SXSW Sydney is already too big for its shell

For a brief period in Newtown, a few years ago, a baffling trend occurred where people were suddenly snaking down the street in an orderly line in order to buy what seemed to be a normal cup of normal gelato.

Gelato wasn’t new to Newtown; in fact this was during the peak gelato period (remember?), so there were half a dozen other gelato stores within strolling distance. But people weren’t lining up for those ones. So other people wondered what it was about this gelato that made people line up, and so they too lined up. The line kept growing.

This was very much the case at South by Southwest this week, the first time the geographically challenged festival has left its birthplace of Austin. It was a roaring success – in fact, the size of its success was its only downfall.