A First-Timer's Guide to Enjoying SXSW in Austin
From March 9 to March 18, the city of Austin will once again play host to the wildly successful and famous (sometimes even infamous) SXSW Festival.
This multi-faceted event features tech conferences, a dizzying array of concerts, film screenings from emerging talent, comedy performances from stand-up to improv, a gaming expo highlighting the newest developments in gamer culture, and networking opportunities for creatives of all stripes. SXSW offers something for everyone, but the sheer volume of events and venues can feel overwhelming. That’s why we’re bringing you a comprehensive first-timer’s guide to SXSW, complete with ticketing tips, hotel recommendations, a list of the festival’s unmissable attractions, and Downtown Austin restaurant and bar suggestions to check out in between the shows.
Tickets
SXSW offers a range of ticketing options to accommodate visitor preferences and needs. For premium access to venues, priority booking for hotels, and the use of festival shuttles to get you to and from event locations, SXSW Badges are your best bet. Platinum Badges ($1,650) grant purchasers admission to all SXSW events, while festival-specific badges ($1,325) include admission to all music, film, or interactive events.
Attendees on a budget can instead opt for SXSW Wristbands, which offer secondary access to festival venues (badge holders have priority access and wristband holders will be admitted afterwards, depending on venue capacity). Film festival wristbands are sold out, but music wristbands can be purchased for $179 while gaming wristbands are $39 for a three-day pass and $20 for daily passes.
Where to Stay
While finding a hotel for SXSW this late in the game can be a challenge, there are still some available rooms in the Central Austin area.
With rooms starting at $226/night during SXSW, Habitat Suites in North Central Austin is an excellent pick for the environmentally minded among us, with its solar-powered rooms, grounds filled with fruit trees and herb gardens, complimentary vegan and vegetarian breakfasts, and organic cotton mattresses.
Is a bed and breakfast more your style? Brava House, a cozy inn inside a 19th century Victorian home, is a great option in a convenient Clarksville location just west of Austin’s downtown center. Brava House still has available rooms during SXSW, starting at $300/night. This rate covers themed rooms (like the Van Gogh Room and the Fitzgerald Suite) with queen-sized beds, access to two neighborhood pools, use of Brava House’s garden and pond area, and complimentary breakfast served on trays that can be brought to your room for a luxurious breakfast-in-bed experience.
For $763/night, you can still snag a room at The Guild [https://theguild.co/east6th-corazon], a hip boutique hotel in East Austin. Just a 12-minute walk from the Austin Convention Center (the site of many SXSW events), The Guild features homey decor with quirky touches, an on-site gym, an outdoor pool, complimentary locally roasted coffee, in-room washers and dryers, and plush beds from Tuft and Needle.
Getting Around
Most SXSW venues are located within a few blocks of Downtown Austin, which makes walking an easy and appealing transportation option. However, there are plenty of other ways to get around the festival. Badge holders can enjoy complimentary rides on the SXSW Shuttle, a single-route vehicle transporting festival attendees from the Austin Convention Center to SXSW venues. The shuttle runs from 9 a.m. - 2:30 a.m. daily.
CapMetro, Austin’s city bus system, has routes leading from other Austin neighborhoods into the heart of downtown. Austin’s business district also features a high concentration of docking stations for Austin’s bike share program, B-cycle, making cycling a convenient and efficient way to get from place to place during SXSW.
If it’s getting late, you’ll want to opt for a ride share. While Austin has the heavy hitters like Uber and Lyft, the most popular program is Ride Austin, a non-profit rideshare with a strong investment in the Austin community.
Due to limited parking and festival-related street closures, SXSW attendees are strongly discouraged from driving their own cars to the venues.
What To Expect at SXSW
Get The App
The SXSW Go app is free to download, and it includes a breakdown of the entire festival schedule, a list of venues and their sizes, event status updates to notify you when a venue is nearly at capacity, a series of personalized recommendations, and a social networking platform allowing you to share recommendations with other SXSW attendees.
Don’t Be Late
Because SXSW doesn’t guarantee admission to any of its events, once a venue has reached capacity, you won’t be able to make it in. Therefore, we highly recommend arriving as early as possible. Badge holders have priority access and will be allowed to enter venues prior to wristband holders, so if you have a wristband, you’ll want to stake out your spot in line as soon as you can.
It’s All About The Music
All due respect to the comedy, films, and food but SXSW started as a music festival and that remains the cornerstone of the experience. It feels like the lineup keeps growing and growing every year, especially when you factor in unofficial showcases around town.
There are over 2,000 performers at SXSW so it’s asking too much to see them all. You’ll want to try to narrow things down as much as possible and you can do so by previewing each and every artist or band via Spotify Playlists or YouTube Music Video playlists. Once you know you who want to see, check the schedule to see when they’re playing.
While shows are happening all over Austin, most of the official showcases will be taking place on or around 6th Street and E Cesar Chavez Street. You can browse by venue to see exactly who is performing where and when.
However, as we mentioned, there are also plenty of performers playing unofficial showcases as well. These aren’t sanctioned by SXSW but, that makes it a bit of a throwback experience to when the festival was a bit more free-wheeling. The Austin Chronicle has a full schedule of unofficial shows or you can follow the Unofficial SXSW Twitterfeed for live updates.
Grab Some Popcorn & Catch a Flick
The SXSW film festival is an underrated part of the experience here as some of tomorrow’s big hits and award-winners might be getting one of their first showings right here. The festival is split amongst ten venues, including Paramount Theatre, Vimeo Theater at the Austin Convention Center, and the Rollins Theatre at The Long Center. Check the festival site to see what’s playing where and when.
As a bonus, if you didn’t get a badge, you might still be able to watch some of the films. Non-badge tickets go on sale 15 minutes before each screening time if there is still seating available. Single tickets cost $15 each and it’s fairly common to be able to get into screenings this way.
The Comedy Festival Is No Joke
If you have a music badge or wristband, you’re also free to attend any of the SXSW Comedy Festival events. While a lower-profile endeavor than the concert series, SXSW Comedy features some big names this year, like Nick Offerman, Rachel Bloom, Bill Hader, Jim Gaffigan, and Jo Firestone.
Where To Eat and Drink
An undeniable foodie town, Austin contains a variety of excellent dining destinations, and the city’s downtown center is home to many highlights.
Jo's Coffee
To start your SXSW adventure off the right way, head to Jo’s Coffee on West 2nd Street for a local-favorite breakfast experience. With a quirky and convivial vibe, strong Stumptown coffee, and an impressive assortment of breakfast tacos, Jo’s more than deserves its reputation as an Austin staple.
Manuel's
When you’re in Austin, you have to partake in one of the city’s most celebrated types of cuisine: classic Tex-Mex. Manuel’s on Congress Avenue serves up seasonal Tex-Mex dishes made from local meats and produce in a hip and modern dining room that provides a pleasant contrast to the traditional eats. The menu at Manuel’s relies heavily on Tex-Mex standards, but with expertly sourced ingredients. From chile con queso to chile relleno stuffed with sauteed corn salad to Black Angus fajitas with grilled veggies and freshly made guacamole, Manuel’s has the most celebrated dishes of Tex-Mex cuisine on lockdown.
Fareground
If you’re looking for an SXSW-adjacent downtown eatery with plenty of variety, head straight to Fareground on Congress Avenue, Austin’s first-ever food hall. Intrepid diners can select from six Austin-based food vendors, like Dai Due (a taqueria specializing in Texan game and avant-garde vegetarian items), Easy Tiger (a bakery and beer garden with breakfast pastries, pretzels, and house-cured meats), and Henbit (a New American restaurant featuring local ingredients and a health-conscious menu with items like redtail shrimp poke with crispy rice salad, matcha lattes with lavender syrup, and avocado and spaghetti squash salad with burnt pecan dressing). With unique food options and abundant picnic-table seating, Fareground seems made for groups of hungry SXSW attendees.
The Firehouse Lounge
Want to grab a post-show drink in a quintessentially Austin bar with craft cocktails, funky vibes, and rentable hostel rooms right upstairs? The Firehouse Lounge on Brazos Street in Downtown Austin checks every one of those boxes. Appropriately located in a building that once served as a fire station, The Firehouse Lounge has a speakeasy-esque charm to it, accessible through a hidden bookshelf entrance in the hostel lobby. It’s a handsome spot with leather sofas, red wallpaper, industrial pipes running across the ceiling, and bookshelves lining the walls. The bar staff is equally adept at crafting classic libations and original house beverages, and if you’re in the mood for more music after your SXSW excursions, the lounge stage regularly hosts local bands, with an emphasis on blues and jazz.