South by Southwest saw a 20% bump in music attendees this year despite a new, condensed seven-day schedule, down from its historic nine-day schedule, the organizers exclusively shared with ADWEEK.
The event, which started March 12 and wrapped today, is a conglomeration of festivals and conferences spanning technology, film and television, music, education, comedy, and culture. Attendees choose between conference-specific badges just for the music, innovation, or film and TV content. A “platinum” badge spans all programming. A separate education-focused conference, SXSW EDU, ran prior to the main event from March 9-12.
The 2026 event represented “a very ambitious reinvention—probably the most ambitious in our 40-year history,” explained Peter Lewis, chief commercial officer at SXSW.
