Tag Archives: SXSW
City outlines public safety plans for bustling spring festival season
With downtown Austin set to host five major events in a six-week period beginning with South by Southwest, city leaders have presented their plans for road closures and increased public safety measures that are likely to disrupt normal activities in…
Public Safety • By Chad Swiatecki • Mar 1, 2023
Resolutions push city to look toward future use of crypto, blockchain tech
Payments for city services via cryptocurrency could become a reality in the near future, as could storage and processing of paperwork using blockchain ledger technology. Those are two of the possible outcomes from a pair of resolutions set for consideration…
City Hall • By Chad Swiatecki • Mar 18, 2022
City, county leaders stress caution to keep Covid numbers down through SXSW
The city and organizers of the South by Southwest festival have asked attendees of credentialed and free events to have proof of vaccination or a recent negative Covid-19 test if they plan on participating in this year’s event. Local leaders…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Mar 8, 2022
SXSW will have online events in 2021. A physical festival in Austin is still a possibility.
South by Southwest will host an online event next year, but plans for a physical one are still in the works, the organization announced Tuesday. The annual series of conferences and festivals, which attracts hundreds of thousands to Austin each…
Music & Entertainment • By Marisa Charpentier, KUT • Sep 23, 2020
City looks for funds, including hotel tax, to cushion COVID-19 economic impact
City staff and members of City Council have fine-tuned their plans for assisting small businesses and employees facing financial difficulties from the cancellation of South by Southwest and other fallout from the COVID-19 outbreak. Council Member Jimmy Flannigan posted a…
City Council • By Chad Swiatecki • Mar 20, 2020
Council to examine aid for 'SXSW resilience' after festival's cancellation
City Council and staffers will spend much of next week looking at how to provide assistance to small businesses and workers who stand to be severely impacted by last week’s decision to cancel the South by Southwest festival. In a…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Mar 12, 2020
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City, businesses work to offset economic impacts of SXSW cancellation
With the cancellation of this year’s South By Southwest festival, some local businesses and charitable organizations have launched fundraising drives in an effort to provide support to businesses and employees impacted by the loss of 10 days of high-volume tourist…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Mar 9, 2020
Reporter's Notebook: Drip, drip, drip
Givens has broken… It turns out that Givens Pool is failing faster than predicted, and a February memo from the Parks and Recreation Department advises its immediate closure. The department identified Givens as one of seven pools in critical condition…
Reporters' Notebook • By Austin Monitor • Mar 2, 2020
SXSW economic impact grows to new high of $355.9 million
The South by Southwest festivals created an economic impact of $355.9 million this year, an increase of about $5.3 million or about 1.5 percent from the $350.6 million figure generated last year. In its annual report using data analyzed from…
Music & Entertainment • By Chad Swiatecki • Oct 9, 2019
Should hotel taxes and festival fees contribute to public safety coffers?
Austin’s festivals are most certainly a tourist attraction. But does that mean the public safety costs associated with those events should be financed through money earmarked for arts and tourism? With Council’s vote to raise the Hotel Occupancy Tax by…
Public Safety • By Jessi Devenyns • Sep 12, 2019
After music think tank, Austin eyeing new music census, programming
A group of leaders from prominent music cities across North America spent two days in Austin last week brainstorming the issues that have become a regular part of the economic dialogue in Austin: affordability, compatibility and sustainability. The Sound Music…
Music & Entertainment • By Chad Swiatecki • Mar 19, 2019
Nearly 434,000 scooter rides were taken during SXSW 2019
Dockless scooters were the headliner in their first year at South by Southwest. City data show the scooters outpaced rentable dockless bikes during the festival, accounting for nearly 434,000 rides over the 10 days of SXSW – 12.3 percent of…
