With Sydney on the cusp of some big changes, it’s only right that the city keeps growing one of its major wins over the past few years. That being the enviable position as the hub of SXSW in the Southern Hemisphere with SXSW Sydney.

Sydney is the first-ever city to host the iconic festival outside of its origin city of Austin, Texas. For the uninitiated, it’s the largest multi-format festival in history, built by the pillars of music, film, gaming, technology showcases, and unique brand activations. And it’s often so incredibly complex that it’d be nigh impossible for someone to explain how it works to those who have never been.

I’m lucky enough to have been to the Austin one and it remains one of the highlights of my career to date.

That’s the Austin original, however. SXSW Sydney is a whole different beast, and with one successful year under its belt, there’s still plenty of space for it to carve its own unique cultural identity while still being tethered to everything that has made SXSW one of the world’s most anticipated events each year.

The way the ticketing system works is unique to SXSW. You buy badges, which are usually quite expensive, and they are tied to a different tier or interest. Industry badges, for example, provide access to industry-specific parties, events and networking sessions and there are ones for tech, screen, games, and music. The top-shelf option is the Platinum Badge, which is a hefty $1,595 but provides priority access to every single SXSW event and activation across the week-long event, including VIP parties and networking sessions.

A common complaint last year was the price tags associated with SXSW. And while they are the price tags are equally as eye-popping in Austin, the original SXSW has been running since 1987 and has built up a singular reputation for attracting big-name talent across all industries, from former President Barack Obama to Prince, JAY-Z, Amy Winehouse, and Bill Murray. With the cost-of-living crisis deepening, I do think prices will be another discussion as SXSW Sydney rolls around for the week of October 14—20.

But there will be plenty of free events at SXSW Sydney

SXSW Sydney organisers are doubling down on free programming this year to get more people involved in the event, even if they can’t afford to purchase a badge.

The festival’s main hub at Darling Harbour’s Tumbalong Park is expecting over 100,000 people through the week, heading down to enjoy over 60 hours worth of free programming led by tourism boards like Brand USA, companies like Amazon and Prime Video, and key players in film, music, gaming, and tech.

I’ve broken down some of the key free events at SXSW Sydney so you’ve got a handy guide when October rolls around.

1. A unique showcase of South Asian talent

One of the highlights for music fans at SXSW is getting to discover live music from countries around the world, moving away from the English-dominated demand that the music industry traditionally operates on and paying more attention to musicians from other parts of the world. So SXSW Sydney will host a single-day showcase festival dedicated exclusively to South Asian creatives. Head along on Sunday, October 20 to catch six acts from India and the Indian diaspora, each bringing in wildly different styles with most sitting across hip hop, pop, R&B, club music, and neo-classical.

When: Sunday, October 20

2. A rare insight into a musician’s creative process

Silverchair co-founder Ben Gillies will take to the Tumbalong Park Main Stage alongside Futurist Johannes Saam and producer-songwriter Tushar Apte. Together they will perform a live demonstration session and performance, giving guests a very unique insight into the creative process that sits behind recorded music.

3. Talks on technology and innovation

One of the brand’s activating at the Tumbalong Park precinct for SXSW Sydney this year is The Growth Distillery, which will be curated a new stage called The Dome dedicated to free keynote talks from various industries throughout the week. The Dome’s ‘Meet The Speaker’ program will give guests the chance to meet Conference speakers and discuss different topics. How different, you ask. Well, one such speaker will be astrophysicist Kirsten Banks. On Thursday, October 17, The Dome will also host an Innovation Showcase with various educational facilities coming on board to talk rocketry, robotics, engineering, mechanics, science, and technology. Schools are being encouraged to bring their students to the eye-opening program.

When: Thursday, October 17 (Innovation Showcase)

4. A free screening of The Endless Summer & First Nations short films

Saturday, October 19 will be all about the screen industry. First, gin distillery Papa Salt will host the Australian premiere of The Endless Summer’s 60th Anniversary edition, with the Bruce Brown’s iconic surf film playing on the stage for free. There’ll also be a free afterparty with live music from BALTHVS and Touch Sensitive. Second, Bush Shorts will screen a variety of short films from emerging First Nations and Indigenous filmmakers, curated by Winda Film Festival tethered by the theme of shaping identity and remembering Country.

When: Saturday, October 19

5. An eSports extravaganza for high school students

While half of Tumbalong park will be taken up with free screenings on Saturday, October 19, the other half will be dedicated to eSports. The behemoth industry has attracted an eyebrow-raising level of investment over the past few years, so expect a big crowd as two of the best highlights in Australia and New Zealand compete for the only Fornite competition especially designed for high school students. This will form part of the larger Games Festival programming in Tumbalong Park.

When: Saturday, October 19

6. What will the brands be doing?

Major events need major sponsors. And while SXSW’s creative bent can sometimes be at odds with the corporate world, I’ve personally found that this particular festival always manages to inspire big-name companies, keen to showcase their latest products, to put their best foot-forward, fitting seamlessly into SXSW’s creative lens.

Commbank has come back on board for SXSW’s second year with a series of interactive challenges designed to test your knowledge of scams and frauds. EV company Zeekr will have a test drive zone set-up near the ICC Sydney. Accor Hotels will have its own ALL.com lobby, designed as a meeting spot for attendees with its own programming of events, workshops, music and giveaways. ARN will be on hand hosting live radio shows from the park all week. Even Intuit Mailchimp will get involved, with the tech company designing its own interactive activity, curiously called ‘Email is Dead.’

One of Tumbalong Park’s most popular features at SXSW Sydney’s inaugural year was the Suntory Minus 196 bar, a pop-up Japanese bar taking place in a Godzilla-sized vending machine. It’ll be back for 2024, and from the official description, it sounds like it’ll (thankfully) be largely unchanged from last year.

One of the most defining features of SXSW in Austin is the activation of different “brand houses,” where different destinations, cities and brands take over certain bars or venues (from actual bars to custom-made pop-ups, or even retail stores) with their own programming. SXSW Sydney isn’t quite yet at that scale, but we will see the return of Brand USA’s takeover of Pumphouse Sydney. The heritage-listed Darling Harbour bar will be turned into a revolving door dedicated to the USA with food, wine, cocktails, and live music.

Other brands having a presence at SXSW include Amazon’s Prime Video taking over Fratelli Fresh Darling Harbour, and global digital agency DEPT moving into the stunning Chinese Garden of Friendship with a series of happy hours, dinners, and roundtable discussions.

Are you at SXSW for all the screenings? Take a peek at our guide to the best film festivals in Sydney
Want to learn about Sydney’s future? Check out our piece on the city’s plans for Parramatta Road
Support local while you’re in town. These are some of the best First Nations businesses you can support in Sydney.