SXSW 2026: Changes and what you should know
AUSTIN, Texas - The 2026 SXSW Conference & Festival will feel a bit different from in years past but will still be full of celebrities, music and activations.
This will be the event's 40th year.
The backstory:
Austin Convention Center: Behind the scenes
We are getting a behind-the-scenes look at the Convention Center redevelopment. Crews are tearing down the existing one and building a larger building in its place.
SXSW says the changes were prompted by the closure of the Austin Convention Center, which for many years had been a central hub for the festival.
The City of Austin is redeveloping and expanding the center as part of the Unconventional ATX project.
The convention center was closed in April 2025 and demolition was completed later that same year.
Construction is underway and is scheduled to be completed by early 2029 for the spring festival season.
SXSW 2026
This year's SXSW is March 12 to 18 and will be two days shorter than it was in 2025, when SXSW was held from March 7 to 15.
There will also be one less weekend, so all three of its tracks (Conference, Film & TV Festival, and Music Festival) will run concurrently.
The festival says this will give music fans the chance to enjoy seven nights of showcases instead of six and continue paring down the number of showcasing artists while spreading the shows out over a greater part of the event.
Some badge prices were also reduced to help make them more affordable.
What's new
SXSW says this year there will be three clubhouses for Innovation, Film & TV and Music. They will be located at Brazos Hall, 800 Congress and Downright respectively. Officials say that attendees can look at these clubhouses as their home base.
Programming tracks are now aligned with key buildings across downtown.
Badges now have reservations to secure spots in sessions, screenings and showcases. There are also reservations that will be released in windows so that non-Platinum badges (which always have the most and first opportunity to use their reservations) will also get a fresh batch of reservations made available.
Anticipated films and music
The festival will open with the film "I Love Boosters" which has among its stars Demi Moore and Keke Palmer.
Other buzzed about films and TV series include "Ready or Not 2", "Power Ballad" with Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas, Lisa Kudrow's "The Comeback", "Pretty Lethal" with Uma Thurman and "Forbidden Fruits".
Steven Spielberg, Serena Williams, Andy Cohen and Jamie Lee Curtis are among the speakers.
Musicians scheduled to perform at various events and showcases include Lainey Wilson, Charley Crockett, Christina Aguilera, Calvin Harris and the All-American Rejects.
Local perspective:
Security and traffic will be a concern.
After the recent downtown Austin mass shooting, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said there were no major changes to the department's security plans for SXSW. A news conference is expected to address the plans in the coming days.
Road closures
There will be several road closures.
This includes Congress from 7th to 11th; Red River from 5th to 10th, and 6th from Brazos to the I-35 Frontage Road.
What you can do:
For full information on the conference and festivals, you can go to the South by Southwest festival.
And FOX 7 Austin will have full coverage of the event on our website and our FOX LOCAL connected TV and mobile apps.
Austinites, visitors on new layout
What they're saying:
We asked both locals and visitors about their thoughts on the new layout.
Laura Arike is visiting Austin from New York for SXSW.
"I'm feeling like the humidity is getting to me, running around between the Hiltons and the Marriotts of it all, but I feel like the staff has been really helpful, which is nice," she said.
She feels it would be easier if everything was in one place.
"I think they're doing the best they can, but it's tough, it's a little overwhelming I think, especially for first timers. I've been late to every session, but it's all part of the fun. Maybe we'll figure it out tomorrow," she said.
"It's very inconvenient, especially for the locals. Also, I'm a musician, so we don't get paid much, so traveling in this is very inconvenient. It should be condensed to one spot," local Calvin Austin said.
He gets around by bike.
"It's difficult because you have pedestrians and then you have cars, so not only do you have to watch out for the cars, you have to watch for the pedestrians," he said.
The Source: Information from reporting by Angela Shen, Austin Police Department and the South by Southwest website.