How To South By: The Ultimate Guide To Austin During SXSW

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By Deb Landau

When South by Southwest held its first festival in 1987, around 700 people showed up. The idea, cooked up by a group of co-workers from the Austin Chronicle, was to create a venue where musicians could celebrate music and share ideas. At the time, no one could fathom what the event affectionately known as South By would become. Some 32 years later, it has grown into the ultimate exposition for interactive film, music and emerging tech.

Organizers expect about 400,000 people to rock their way into Austin during this year’s festival, which will be held March 8-17.

Austin greets SXSW attendees by rolling out its famous food carts and converting hotels and restaurants into exhibition and party spaces. Even the climate cooperates with comfortable temps around 80.

“Austin in a remarkable place, and it owes much of its character to the creativity and energy that comes from SXSW,” said Tom Noonan, president and CEO of Visit Austin. “Austin wouldn’t be the same without it and vice versa.”

This symbiosis electrifies this Texas city of around a million people. Austin greets SXSW attendees by rolling out its famous food carts, and converting its hotels and restaurants to exhibition spaces and party zones. Local artisans offer their wares and the city’s famous music scene turns up the volume.

Get Oriented

The hub of SXSW is at the Austin Convention Center, but there’s a lot of exploring to do beyond the festival venues. Getting Around Austin is easy; most everywhere is walkable, and electric scooters and B-Cycle bikes are readily available.

Downtown includes the 2nd Street District, roughly five blocks between Congress Ave and San Antonio St that has a good selection of local shops outdoor cafes. Here, you’ll find the world-famous Moody Theater, a 3,000-seat music venue and home to Austin City Limits.

South Congress Avenue is a short walk over the bridge from Downtown. “Start your day with a migas breakfast taco and work your way through the shops of South Congress,” suggests Noonan. Try this Tex-Mex favorite at Guero’s Taco Bar or Torchy’s Tacos. This neighborhood is also home to the famous Allens Boots, which has row upon row of cowboy boots from every brand imaginable. For a lesser-known local treat, check out nearby Heritage Boots, where all the boots are hand-stitched.

Rainey Street is a fun place to bar hop and people watch with rows of old bungalows converted into bars and restaurants. Check out Bangers, which has live music, more than 100 beers on tap, a killer Sunday brunch and makes sausages out of just about anything. Find a dizzying selection of dive bars, live music venues and nightclubs in the Sixth Street & Red River districts.

Experience Live Music

The success of SXSW has been a boon for Austin’s businesses. It’s also put pressure on the city, bringing with it a burgeoning tech scene and the ensuing population explosion that happens when big companies set up shop. As NPR reported in 2017, musicians, who historically could make a living playing live gigs, now struggle to afford to live in the city.  

Those issues aside, the live music scene in Austin is like nowhere else in the country. For a comprehensive listing of events, check out do512.com for listings. There’s an iconic venue seemingly everywhere you turn. Some favorites include Stubbs (come for the music, stay for the BBQ), The Continental Club (a South Congress landmark), Mohawk Austin (with an inside and outside stage) and Emo’s (gritty punk rock origins). Even the flagship Whole Foods, which opened here in 1980, has a rooftop live music venue.

Take Nature Breaks

Sometimes it’s nice to leave the networking and social frenzy of SXSW and get some air and exercise. There’s no better place to do that than Zilker Park, a 350-acre lakeside oasis in the heart of Austin. Runners, walkers and cyclists can hit the Lady Bird Hike and Bike Trail while swimmers can do laps in the Barton Springs pool, which is fed by a 68-degree natural spring. Another option is to rent a standup paddleboard or canoe and toodle around the lake.

At dusk, people gather on the Congress Avenue Bridge, or in kayaks on Lady Bird Lake, to witness millions of migrating Mexican free-tailed bats soar from beneath the bridge in March and April. The bats compose the largest urban bat population in the country and are said to consume some 30,000 pounds of insects each night.

Savor The City

Some 1,000 food trucks operate within Austin city limits, serving up everything from ubiquitous Texas barbecue to vegan comfort food. Many of the trucks now have brick-and-mortar locations: including Garbo’s, made famous for its lobster rolls; East Side King known for delicious Asian fusion; and Veracruz All Natural, for its healthy Tex-Mex and smoothies.

Barbecue is built into Austin’s bones and the aroma of briskets, ribs, and sausages smoking over an open pit is everywhere. Local pitmaster Aaron Franklin even won a James Beard award for his grilling prowess and crowds line up in droves at his Franklin restaurant. Other iconic joints include Iron Works (in the Red River district), Lamberts (upscale BBQ, get the side mac-and-cheese), Blacks Barbecue (where the brisket cooks for 14 hours) and La Barbecue (food truck turned restaurant), just to name a few.

The action of SXSW can keep visitors busy day and night, and you’ll run into fellow badge-wearers everywhere you go. But be sure to save a little time to scratch Austin’s underbelly. Take in the street art, listen to the sounds and smell the night sky — SXSW is designed to open your mind and Austin is ready to help fill it up.

Deb Landau is a writer, editor and producer who has traveled through many intersections of publishing — from writing guidebooks for Lonely Planet Publications to running a digital magazine. She is an outdoor enthusiast and lives in Portland, Oregon.