South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conference and festival that takes place in March in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1987, SXSW features programming across technology, film and television, music, education, culture, gaming, and other creative industries. The event includes keynote and featured sessions, exhibitions, screenings, music showcases, networking opportunities, and more held across multiple venues throughout Austin. SXSW is run by the company SXSW, LLC, which organizes conferences, trade shows, festivals, and other events. In addition to SXSW, the company runs the SXSW EDU conference and the SXSW London festival, and co-runs North by Northeast in Toronto, Canada. The company has previously run or co-run the events North by Northwest (1995–2001), West by Southwest (2006–2010), SXSW Eco (2011–2016), SXSW V2V (2013–2015), the me Convention (2017–2019) and SXSW Sydney (2023-2025). A large number of other events, past and present, sometimes collectively referred to as “four-letter festivals”, have been inspired by SXSW. The Austin Convention Center in Downtown Austin which functioned as the “hub” of the festival began renovations in 2025 and will reopen in 2029; South by Southwest will operate as a campus style event from 2026 – 2028 with events associated with the festival taking place at venues in and around Downtown Austin.
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Educational Lesson Plans
Enhance your classroom experience with our comprehensive educational lesson plans designed to accompany this virtual tour. Each lesson plan aligns with national educational standards and includes pre-tour activities, guided exploration questions, discussion prompts, and post-tour assessment materials. Perfect for grades K-12 and higher education.
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