Will SXSW Sydney 2025 pay off for Destination NSW?

Tickets for SXSW Sydney are tiered, and while more affordable options are available – movie rush tickets are $25 minimum, Innovation Fair tickets are $40 when not free, and entertainment wristbands are $140 – they don’t provide access to every event.

This brings us to the crux of why South by Southwest, which is essentially a conference, is also known as the “corporate Coachella.”

“We’ve worked hard to make this year’s event more accessible: introducing new day pass options, expanding our free program and reducing the average ticket price, so attendance is accessible to more people and businesses than ever before,” says Simon Cahill, co-managing director of SXSW Sydney.

But people in power are in rooms where the entrance fee is $995 or $1495 (a platinum pass is $1895 in 2023), although it is not $695.

Think about who might want to attend Feig’s talk (a who’s who of Australian film), hear former Google size 20 Host Brennan Lee Mulligan live (game streamers who will spend the rest of the conference scouting developers) or watch supermodel Tyra Banks get up close and personal (a who’s who of… everything?).

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“This is a vibrant, creative space full of the people we want to reach most: gamers, creators and digital innovators,” says Sarah Barnbrook, founder of digital security advocacy group Away from Keyboard (AFK). “These are exactly these communities [AFK] It is there to support.”

There are solutions. One enthusiastic gamer I spoke to on Reddit volunteered at the event two years in a row and happily traded 18 hours of his work for a Pro Pass ($995, also offered to speakers in exchange for their services). For them, connecting with industry professionals, whether indie developers or studios, is invaluable.

Social Enterprise Australia’s partnership with SXSW Sydney is another option where a panel of judges select a select number of social enterprises, the people they support and others who might traditionally be “left out of the conversation” to receive a free event ticket.

“We believe all people should have the power to shape the future, but access to power is so unequal,” says Jess Moore, chief executive of Social Enterprise Australia. “These transitions mean that people with different life experiences and bold goals can not only be in the room, but also help shape the conversation.”

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Gupta is the best example of this. She received a free pass to Social Enterprise Australia in 2023, and then hosted a youth mental health event with non-profit ALLKND in 2024, and will speak on the “New Media ‘Myth'” panel on Thursday.

“I work full-time as a freelancer,” says Gupta. “[SXSW Sydney 2023] “Honestly, it got me a lot of business projects… it gave me a lot of connections.”

Did Destination NSW’s $12 million gamble pay off?

Destination NSW refuses to confirm level of investment at SXSW Sydney; A spokesperson claims the specific figures are “commercial in disguise” and refers to SXSW Sydney’s previous claims that the event contributes $200 million to the NSW economy from 2023. It is understood Sydney has retained the rights to SXSW for five years and will secure it for another five years if revenue targets are met.

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A flood of email blasts ahead of SXSW Sydney suggest the acquisition is a boon for communications people and PR agencies. But for many others, the reality is less clear. For some, this is a blessing.

“There’s no easy way to be a venue right now,” says publican Bhavani Baumann. “Every time you have to pay for something now, the costs go up and there are so many ways we can pass that on [to customers].”

This is the third year that Baumann’s The Chippo Hotel has closed to the public for SXSW Sydney; Brands such as American Apparel are renting the venue for festival events this year. Baumann says the base hire fee often generates regular weekly income for the pub and provides a welcome bonus on top of catering fees.

But Baumann also sees value in the deal that can’t be easily measured; SXSW Sydney is a “massive marketing platform” for The Chippo Hotel.

“Working with big brands really helps,” says Baumann. “It gets a lot of people to know about our venue, they come here to see shows they love, then they see a venue they don’t really know about.”

But not everyone is compensated for their services. While “the statement doesn’t pay the rent” is an age-old adage among artists – and a contributing factor to the outrage faced by SXSW Sydney’s local festival organizers – with Australia’s music industry in dire straits, emerging artists have no choice but to beg for scraps.

When SXSW Sydney contacted alternative pop singer BIRDEE 王煒’s team asking her to perform at two venues in 2024, it was an offer she couldn’t refuse. He was not paid for his shows, and one venue’s crowd was “pretty outspoken, a little dead-on”, but BIRDEE 王煒 was “very grateful that I performed there and exposed myself to (those people) who were there that night”. After all, Billie Eilish was discovered at South by South West in Austin.

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“In Sydney specifically, there aren’t a lot of opportunities for artists to perform,” says BIRDEE 王煒, who received a collaboration offer from a songwriter and saw her social media following increase after SXSW Sydney. “When something like this happens to you, you don’t say no. You don’t.”

Although an email offering discounted tickets was sent out to former attendees less than a week after launch, SXSW Sydney is expecting more foot traffic this year thanks to its expanded schedule and restructured ticket offerings.

The extra eyeballs will be welcomed by makeup and prosthetics artist Helen Tuck. Will Find Youa horror starring AreaKylah Day will premiere on Thursday.

With Australia being seen by Hollywood as a “destination location” to shoot films at cheap pre-Trump rates, and a lack of sufficient local content quotas for free-to-air broadcasters and streaming services, Tuck sees SXSW Sydney as something that can only help the film industry, particularly independent filmmakers.

“If you make an independent film in Australia, it’s really hard to get theatrical distribution of anything outside of a small number of independent cinemas…it’s not enough to get enough attention for the film,” Tuck says.

Will Find YouAustralian distributors paid for the short’s SXSW Sydney screening; the goal was that reviews from the festival and the prestige of the South by Southwest brand would help create an international film festival and an international distributor; For most independent Australian filmmakers, international sales are the only way to make their money back.

“A lot of this is just crossing your fingers and hoping… which is not a good distribution strategy, of course, but it all helps,” Tuck says. “Without festivals, it’s really hard to get people to go see your movie on a whim.”