South by Southwest is taking over downtown for its showcases next spring, and adopting a new badge system, a new schedule and a condensed music lineup.
Now in its 40th year, the festival will run March 12-18. Daytime activities are moving from the Austin Convention Center, which is scheduled to be demolished this month.
“We’re gonna be using tons of different hotel spaces downtown,” Brian Hobbs, vice president of the SXSW music festival, said.
Hobbs said Music, Film & TV and Innovation (previously Interactive) will each have its own slice of downtown, with individual buildings acting as hubs or “clubhouses.”
The Music clubhouse will be centered around the Downright on East Seventh Street, while Innovation will be at Brazos Hall on East Fourth. Film & TV will be at 800 Congress Ave., kitty-corner to the Paramount Theatre. EDU will have events in multiple buildings with no designated hub.
The badge system, used to access events and exclusive spaces, is also getting overhauled.
The biggest change will be the introduction of a new reservation system, allowing attendees to reserve spots in sessions, screenings and showcases. Reservations will open three weeks before the festival with priority given based on badge. Those who hold platinum badges will be able to make three reservations a day, while festivalgoers with all other badges will get two reservations per day.
A wristband system will replace secondary access for folks who want to attend an event that doesn’t align with their badge. These wristbands must be bought a week before the festival. Prices have not been released.
SXSW encourages attendees to buy a platinum badge if they wish to participate in multiple showcases. Those badges cost $2,095, $200 less than last year. ($1,295 if bought before Nov. 7),
The Innovation badge is priced at $895 in advance, while the Film & TV badge is $750. Music badges are $500, and an EDU badge costs $545.
“We are more excited for 2026 on the music side than we have been in a really long time,” Hobbs said.
The festival, originally 12 days long, will now be a week, with activities for each showcase on each day. When SXSW announced its new schedule in March, people pushed back, fearing the loss of a longstanding weekend of music.
“We're actually gaining a day,” Hobbs said, referring to the music portion of the festival.
Hobbs said he sees this change as a good thing.
“I think this is something that should have been done long ago," he said, "but better late than never."
Hobbs said he thinks the shortened festival will actually increase the audience for the music portion because people coming for EDU or Innovation will still be in town.
"They [will] get to experience what’s really the heartbeat of South by Southwest, which is the music that they’ve never got to experience before," he said.
Hobbs said previous SXSW festivals have been lively and "crazy," but that craziness was problematic. He saw the overbooking of artists as something that needed to change and said he expects half as many will play at next year's festival, pointing to the need for quality over quantity.
“I think the bands are gonna get more out of coming to South by Southwest if they’re one of 1,000 instead of one of 2,200," he said.
He also said he thinks that being intentional with the artists will be a win for fans, giving them a better show.
Hobbs said he wants to bring the old-school vibe of SXSW back, giving people experiences they cannot miss.
“Like that’s what we really want to get back to,” he said. “People feeling like they can’t afford to miss South by Southwest because something will have happened that year that you’re gonna regret missing because you can’t just go see it on their tour.”
