By Harrison Lorenzen
Following a hiatus in 2020, the South by Southwest festival returned in March 2021 with its same international renown as ever before. SXSW 2021 was presented in a fully virtual format, which had its pros and cons, but was able to provide much of the content that festival-goers have come to expect from the event.
Featuring nearly 495 listed sessions, screenings, and concerts spread over 5 days, SXSW 2021 had something for everyone, from cryptocurrency and cannabusiness, to music and film. Since the 2020 convention was cancelled mere weeks before its opening, the producers did their best in 2021 to bring back as many speakers and performers as they could from the 2020 schedule, while updating content and adding new acts as well.
The digital format of the festival limited much of the networking opportunities and expansive off-site showcases and events of the usual SXSW experience, but it made it possible to attend more sessions back-to-back without having to travel throughout Austin to reach different venues. The events were all hosted through a robust online platform, whether it was international concerts, film premieres, live roundtable discussions, and executive panels. Most of the sessions were marked as pre-recorded, with the exception of the live Q&A events. The timing of the events lined up with no breaks between time blocks, allowing attendees to maximize their admission with more sessions. The online format also added the feature of on-demand content, where users could watch many sessions and films after their initial premiere, with some even available until April 18th.
Always a fan-favorite feature of the festival is the vast amount of music in Austin, TX for the weekend. Besides the hundreds of official performances sponsored by SXSW, the international artists usually take over bars, coffee shops, houses, and other venues throughout the weekend. Without the in-person attendance, the artists were all restricted to their officially published performances which did seem to limit the options for repeat performances by many artists. In order to keep a professional feel to the concerts, artists were encouraged to record their sets in venues in their home-towns or countries. This provided a way to help support local venues that were struggling due to the shutdown of in-person concerts this year, and showcase beautiful concert halls or more unique settings than Austin can usually provide. Some such settings included a cable car in Norway and an overpass in Los Angeles. SXSW selected certain artists for country showcases, such as, my favorite of the weekend, Taiwan Beats, which featured rock bands from cities throughout Taiwan. For content from all of the showcasing artists, I recommend checking out the SXSW Online 2021 Official Showcasing Artist Music Videos playlist on YouTube at youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXs_3rGeYdIm_4P5e7HPk9VCQGaQe23MP.
An additional feature of the virtual format for SXSW was the ability of the producers to open more components of the festival to the general public. While some films that premiere at SXSW don’t normally make it to national theaters for people to watch, the virtual platform of SXSW 2021 helped to bridge that gap. Mailchimp, for the second year in a row, has hosted the Film Festival Shorts for free streaming on their website. If you are interested in checking out any of these films, both 2020 and 2021 films are available on the website. You can find more information about each of the 2021 screening options at www.sxsw.com/film/2021/2021-sxsw-film-festival-shorts-available-on-mailchimp/. NPR’s YouTube sensation Tiny Desk also collaborated with SXSW to host four virtual performances exclusively for the festival. Each performance was uniquely staged, with clipping., featuring Hamilton star Daveed Diggs, staging their performance on miniature finger instruments, and Steady Holiday performing in her living room, with her dog at her feet and her band outside her window on the front porch. To check out these interesting performances by Steady Holiday, DUCKWRTH, Yasser Tejeda & Palotré, and clipping., visit www.sxsw.com/music/2021/tiny-desk-at-home-meets-sxsw-online-video/.
While I know everyone from the South by Southwest community is eager to return to an in-person setting in the near future (they’re anticipating an in-person festival in Austin from March 11-20, 2022), I appreciate the producer’s efforts to create a virtual experience as close as possible to the real thing. They did not skimp on the scope or production quality of the programming, and minimized the technical difficulties with a very robust streaming platform that even included connected TV apps. Keep an eye out in the fall as SXSW starts to announce their plans for spring 2022, but I bet it will be one of their best festivals yet after a 2 year hiatus from Austin.