South by Southwest (SXSW) is making its Australia debut this year.

The famed "festival of festivals" was founded in Austin, Texas 37 years ago, and is finally venturing to the Asia-Pacific. Taking place this October, SXSW Sydney will host over a thousand events, featuring 700 speakers, 300 panels and sessions across music, tech, film, gaming, and more, plus over 400 artist performances.

The speaker lineup includes the likes of Coachella CEO Paul Tollet, K-pop Chief A&R Officer at SM Entertainment, Chris Lee, World Surfing Champion Layne Beachley, Music Tastemaker and Content Creator Derrick Gee, Indonesian Tourism Minister Sandiaga Uno, Netflix ANZ Director of Content Que Minh Luu, and more.

Meanwhile, the music festival will feature performances by Gabba (PH), Lunadira (MY), Grrrl Gang (ID), Otoboke Beaver (JP), ADOY (KR), G.A.C. (ID), Isyana Sarasvati (ID), LilCherry & Goldbuuda (KR), Nuha Ruby Ra (UK), Wallice (US), MELODOWNZ (NZ), South Summit (AUS), and more.

Colin Daniels, Managing Director, SXSW Sydney shares: “With just under three months to go, this is the first time we’ve been able to hint at the scope of the inaugural SXSW Sydney. Never before have this many entrepreneurs, artists, futurists, innovators and titans of every industry all been in Sydney at one time. As we pull together over 1,000 events and experiences, our team are still searching for a poster big enough to reveal it all.”

SXSW Sydney is happening on 15 - 22 October 2023. Passes start at AUD 1,095. Get it here.