South by Southwest (SXSW) is a set of interactive, film, and music festivals and conferences that take place every spring in Austin, Texas. Originating as the Austin Battle of the Bands, SXSW officially began in 1987 and is centered on the downtown Austin Convention Center. Each of the three parts run relatively independently, with different start and end dates.
SXSW is one of the largest music festivals in the United States, with more than 1,400 performers playing dozens of venues around Austin over four days, in March. Though it is an industry-based event, SXSW Music links locally with events such as the annual Austin Music Awards show. According to the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau, SXSW is the second highest money-making public event for the Austin and Travis County economy, trailing only the annual Republic Of Texas Biker Rally. [1]
In 1994, SXSW added film and interactive conferences. SXSW Film has become one of the world's premiere film festivals, focusing on new directing talent. Similarly, SXSW Interactive has attracted a strong following among web creators and entrepreneurs.
SXSW has spawned other festival such as North by Northeast (NXNE), an annual three-day live music festival and music conference in Toronto, held the second weekend in June.
SXSW also offers a free musical sampler each year, distributed through BitTorrent. This has grown from the inclusion of 775 MP3 tracks in 2005 to 941 in 2006.[2]
