Austin American-Statesman (06/29/22) Carlson, Kara
Organizers of the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas, are planning to host a weeklong version of the event in Australia in October of next year. SXSW Sydney will boast a similar lineup of music, technology, film and other programming. "SXSW connects people to each other year-round by developing events and content that celebrate the inter-relatedness of current and emerging topics," said Hugh Forrest, chief programming officer of festival operator SXSW LLC. "We've been exploring doing something outside North America for a while and found the right collaborators. This gives us the ability to offer a new range of programming to businesses centralized in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region." SXSW has teamed with Destination NSW, the lead government agency for the state of New South Wales' tourism and major events industry, the NSW government and Australian ticketing and live event company TEG. Forrest added that Sydney's "similar future-focused, fast-moving culture that celebrates and cultivates creativity across many different industries makes it the perfect destination for an extension of our event." In addition to celebrating Australia's indigenous First Nations community and creators, Forrest said SXSW Sydney will offer programming that concentrates on the Asia-Pacific region, which is generally considered to include nations in East Asia, Oceania, the Russian Far East, South Asia and Southeast Asia.
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