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- The Austin area won’t be seeing a lot of bluebonnets this year. Here’s why.
- SXSW shrinks as indie venues contemplate competitiveness
- Plans to demolish Highland Park home with links to Commodore Perry faces backlash from neighbors
- Eviction crisis spreads as affordability pressures worsen
- City pauses $10M in airport art over concerns local creatives were excluded
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Tag Archives: SXSW
Musician advocates decry city's inaction on fair pay for SXSW performers
With South by Southwest set to kick off over the weekend, advocates for musicians are calling attention to what they say is inadequate progress on the issue of fair pay for official showcase performances during the festival. Those calls come…
Music & Entertainment • By Chad Swiatecki • Mar 8, 2024
Downtown Commission hears SXSW safety preparedness report
No one likes to think about worst-case scenarios turning large public events into devastating havoc, but such is the business of planning for major festivals like South by Southwest. Lessons learned from past events – the 2020 pandemic, the 2014…
Austin • By Amy Smith • Feb 23, 2024
City, event planners talk planning and street closures during SXSW festival season
The city has started evaluating event permits and scheduling street closures taking place during next month’s South by Southwest festival, the 10-day period referred to in city planning circles as spring festival season. One of those planned closures announced during…
Music & Entertainment • By Chad Swiatecki • Feb 9, 2024
SXSW's $380M economic impact shows return to prepandemic heights
This year’s South by Southwest appears to have had a local economic impact on par with the years prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, which nearly wiped out the popular music, tech and film confab in 2020. An analysis from Greyhill…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Nov 16, 2023
Music Commission hears testimony and then delays vote on SXSW pay
The Music Commission delayed action on the matter of fair pay for South by Southwest performers, holding nearly three hours of discussion on the controversial topic Wednesday night before rescheduling possible action until next month. The delay on the SXSW…
Music & Entertainment • By Chad Swiatecki • Jul 7, 2023
Firearms, unsafe drivers still seen as greatest safety threats for Sixth Street
The presence of firearms and the possibility of a vehicle breaking through barricades and entering crowds are the two greatest threats to Austin’s popular Sixth Street nightlife district, according to police and emergency leaders. The Downtown Commission received updates last…
Public Safety • By Chad Swiatecki • Jun 2, 2023
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Parks board delays SXSW fair pay action until June
The Parks and Recreation Board has signaled it will ask City Council to require fair pay standards to be included in all future contracts with South by Southwest, including its use of Auditorium Shores for free concerts for the public.…
Music & Entertainment • By Chad Swiatecki • Mar 29, 2023
Rally draws attention to criticism of SXSW artist pay
Union organizers for musicians took their criticism of South by Southwest’s artist payment practices to the street on Thursday, gathering outside the Austin Convention Center to rally and draw attention to their demand for increased compensation for the hundreds of…
Music & Entertainment • By Chad Swiatecki • Mar 17, 2023
City outlines public safety plans for bustling spring festival season
With downtown Austin set to host five major events in a six-week period beginning with South by Southwest, city leaders have presented their plans for road closures and increased public safety measures that are likely to disrupt normal activities in…
Public Safety • By Chad Swiatecki • Mar 1, 2023
Resolutions push city to look toward future use of crypto, blockchain tech
Payments for city services via cryptocurrency could become a reality in the near future, as could storage and processing of paperwork using blockchain ledger technology. Those are two of the possible outcomes from a pair of resolutions set for consideration…
City Hall • By Chad Swiatecki • Mar 18, 2022
City, county leaders stress caution to keep Covid numbers down through SXSW
The city and organizers of the South by Southwest festival have asked attendees of credentialed and free events to have proof of vaccination or a recent negative Covid-19 test if they plan on participating in this year’s event. Local leaders…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Mar 8, 2022
SXSW will have online events in 2021. A physical festival in Austin is still a possibility.
South by Southwest will host an online event next year, but plans for a physical one are still in the works, the organization announced Tuesday. The annual series of conferences and festivals, which attracts hundreds of thousands to Austin each…