‘It is a problem’: The major change needed for SXSW Sydney
The inaugural South by Southwest Sydney this month was largely considered a huge success by both industry and punters, however, there has been one consistent issue raised from the debut event.
A staple in the US for almost 40 years, the debut SXSW Sydney featured a stack of big name industry and mainstream figures including Nicole Kidman and Chance the Rapper. According to Mumbrella deputy editor, Nathan Jolly, the overwhelming response to the week-long conference meant that many people – including industry types, journalists and regular festivalgoers – could not get into the sessions due to overcapacity.
Source: SXSW Credit: Photo By Andy Wenstrand
“It was quite crazy. I think [SXSW Sydney] very much did not expect the amount of people that came through and were interested in the sessions,” Jolly explained.
“So there were crowds of people either coming in and out, people were having to make decisions to leave panels early to get to a panel that they might not even get into.
“I could hear a lot of that kind of complaining on the ground – people talking about how they’d come down from Melbourne to cover things that they couldn’t cover, there were people that were spending a lot of money for very specific panels and couldn’t get into them, and it kind of only got worse because they started sending out emails warning people to turn up early, and so everyone turned up early and it was just the same crowds, but 20 minutes earlier. But you know, it’s a good problem to have.”
NSW tourism minister, Ben Franklin, has confirmed that SXSW will continue to go ahead for at least another four years. While this should be considered a win, the numerous venues that held conferences and keynotes across different locations across Sydney – including Pyrmont, Ultimo and Redfern – needs to be looked at, according to Jolly.
“It is a problem. It’s a geographical problem,” he said.
“[Sydney is] splashed out from the harbour and so it’s hard to get around. It’s not like Melbourne, which is gridded and it’s not like Brisbane where it’s all the venues are in one location that you kind of hop. And Austin is very much like that. It’s built for that kind of thing where you can literally go from bar to bar to bar to bar.
“Sydney, it’s like you have to go from tram, to rail, or buses aren’t running this week. Yeah, so it’s a bit of a geographical challenge.”
Click here to listen to Jolly’s full comments on the latest Mumbrellacast.
