South by Southwest, the 38-year-old annual conglomeration of festivals in Austin, Texas, looked a little different this year.
The Austin Convention Center was torn down over the past year, removing the building that’s served as SXSW’s central hub since the 1990s. As a result, the 2026 festival was more spread out around downtown, with events popping up in eight hotels and dozens of music venues. Several blocks of Congress Ave., which runs through the heart of the city and is capped at the north end by the Texas Capitol building, became a pedestrian-only thoroughfare during the event’s seven days, creating a block party atmosphere open to attendees and Austinites alike.
In between panels, meetings, music showcases, agency parties, and dinners, ADWEEK reporters also checked out how brands were activating and popping up across Austin this week. While this year’s event didn’t feature many of the over-the-top, immersive, experiential stunts that SXSW was known for pre-pandemic, there were still sneak peeks into new shows and movies, themed bars and restaurants, and on-the-street pop-ups as brands fought to break through during the 300,000-person festival.
Here’s what we saw, and how it ranked, on a scale from one to five tacos:
Paramount+
For its fourth year running, Paramount+ turned a multi-level bar on Rainey Street into The Lodge. Fashioned after a fictional ski lodge atop the mountain that’s been the centerpiece of Paramount’s logo for 112 years, The Lodge houses photo ops, merch, and bars themed after five of the streamer’s properties this year, including the Texas oilfield-based drama Landman, Yellowstone spin-off Marshals, Survivor 50, UFC, and the NFL on CBS. Fans can grab personalized merch, sip on a cold brew and whiskey at a roughneck bar, or fight a robotic UFC coach.
ADWEEK’s rating: 4 out of 5
It’s still a great space and fun activation. However, The Lodge had fewer properties represented this year, which felt like a bit of a letdown after seeing over half a dozen TV shows come to life for previous iterations.
