SXSW Sydney has revealed the first look at its highly anticipated 2023 event, which will see the famed Austin conference, expo and festival expand outside North America for the first time in its history.
Taking place over a packed week from October 15 to 22, SXSW Sydney will platform the best and brightest minds from Tech & Innovation, Games, Music, Screen and Culture. Starting out in your career or wanting to take the next big step? Keen to witness the very future of technology or the emerging superstars of music and screen? SXSW Sydney will have it all.
The experiences on offer are (nearly) endless, with conference panels and keynote speakers, showcases, festivals, mentor sessions, parties, an expo and a heap more set to take place over the week. The event is organised around a number of key formats: Conference, Festivals and Expo. There’ll be events for every industry in every format – and of course, a big part of SXSW Sydney is what happens when these industries collide and converge. It’s simply impossible to stay in one lane and you won’t want to!
All of this will happen in a number of key precincts in Sydney. The areas of Haymarket, Darling Harbour, Central, Ultimo and Chippendale will come alive and transform into an interconnected hub for the duration of the event, so you can wander the city and encounter new experiences on pretty much every corner.
The heart of SXSW Sydney, the Conference, will take place in multiple venues including ICC Sydney, UTS and The Powerhouse Museum and more. There’ll be more than 400 (yes, 400) presentations, panels, workshops, and mentor sessions across all the key industries.
There’s also the SXSW Sydney Games Festival – where you’ll be able to experience a stack of activations, esports tournaments, launches and more.
Then there’s the SXSW Sydney Music Festival, which will feature a huge line-up of the best local and international acts playing at indoor and outdoor spaces throughout the city. With a keen focus on the Asia-Pacific region, there’ll be a dedicated Asia Focus Showcase Program to bring you the best emerging and established talent from the region.
The SXSW Sydney Screen Festival, meanwhile, will bring an incredible program of films, XR social and short-form content that will highlight the diversity of screen culture throughout the Asia-Pacific and beyond. There’ll be red carpet premieres and other immersive experiences, as well as panels and Q&As that will bring you up close and personal with industry leaders.
“Sydney’s diversity makes it a hotbed for creativity and we’re lucky that so many artists, creative thinkers and innovative businesses call it home,” says Colin Daniels, Managing Director of SXSW Sydney. “Next October, SXSW Sydney will place a global spotlight on our local creative community, highlighting the incredible ideas, sounds and skills found in Sydney and the Asia Pacific region – and the best part is that with our range of event formats and Session Select platform, anyone can be involved.”
There is so much talent amongst our ever growing list of speakers and we’re delighted to announce American Futurist, Amy Webb as one of our leading keynotes. Named ‘one of the five women changing the world’ by Forbes, Webb’s expertise in foresight and future strategy makes her an unmissable speaker.
Joining Webb, at SXSW Sydney, is serial entrepreneur and co-founder and CEO of Colossal, Ben Lamm, and expert in the exploration of mammalian evolution, development and reproductive technologies, Prof. Andrew Pask of the School of BioSciences at the University of Melbourne. Their passionate and disruptive work promises another can’t-miss item on the SXSW Sydney agenda.
Chief Evangelist of Canva and former Apple Chief Evangelist, Guy Kawasaki brings unrivaled experience in evolving technology to SXSW Sydney. Author of The Remarkable Mindset, Wise Guy, The Art of the Start 2.0 and thirteen other books, plus host of his Remarkable People podcast, Kawasaki is a must see in 2023.
These are just a few names kicking off a long list of 500+ speakers set to descend on Sydney in October. Check out who is confirmed to attend below, and watch this space for further announcements soon.
SXSW Sydney is all about collaboration and connection, and we really want to hear your ideas about how to shape the event. Session Select, which you can find on our website now, will allow you to submit your proposal for presentations, panels, or workshops at the SXSW Sydney Conference. Playing an important role in our programming, once submissions and community voting closes our independent industry advisory boards, will assist the SXSW Sydney team in determining our final content line up.
Running in tandem with Session Select, our Music and Screen Festival applications, and Expo expressions of interest are now open. Take this as your sign to get involved now.
There are two types of Badges available for SXSW Sydney: Platinum, and Industry. A Platinum badge will give you primary access to every single event across the week, whereas an Industry badge will give you primary access to every event that falls within your specific industry, plus primary access to the whole SXSW Sydney Conference and Expo. You’ll also get secondary access to everything else on the program.
Badges for SXSW Sydney are on sale now – get more info over here.
The University of Technology, Sydney will be joining us as our exclusive Education Partner, bringing their proud history of innovation and future thinking. With a long and strong history of supporting live music, it’s only right that premium brewers Young Henrys will be the presenting partner of SXSW Sydney Music Festival.
Can you believe this is just the start? SXSW Sydney will be unveiling so much more over the coming months – to make sure you don’t miss a thing, sign up for our email updates.
