SXSW 2027: Podcast Festival, New Venues and a C-Suite Badge Headline a Reworked Austin Lineup
South by Southwest will add a podcast festival, shuffle its film and music venues, and introduce two new badge types when its 2027 edition runs March 15–21 in Austin, Texas, according to Billboard.
The seven-day schedule matches the 2026 edition, which itself trimmed two days from the 2025 event. What is new is the shape of the programming inside that week.
A dedicated podcast festival will run March 17–21, open to all SXSW badge holders. It sits alongside the existing music, film and TV, and innovation tracks rather than replacing any of them.
On the music side, the Music Clubhouse — a hub for artist networking and industry gatherings — is relocating to Austin's Thompson Hotel. Conference programming shifts across the Thompson and the Westin. The festival itself continues to promise seven days and nights of music programming, as listed on SXSW's own site.
The film and TV festival is moving too, but only temporarily. Austin's Paramount Theatre, its long-time home for premieres and red carpets, is undergoing restoration. For 2027, screenings and premieres will shift to ACL Live at The Moody Theater. The Paramount is expected to host the festival again in 2028 once the restoration is complete.
SXSW's innovation conference is reorganising its tracks. The Culture track becomes Lifestyle, focused on personal identity, culture and emerging trends. Sports and Gaming will return as separate, distinct tracks after being merged in prior years.
SXSW EDU, the education-focused programme that precedes the main festival, will kick off the first weekend and feature two crossover days on March 15–16, bridging into the wider event. It will be based at the JW Marriott hotel.
Two new badges are entering the mix. The CxO Badge is a premium pass designed for C-suite executives and founders. The 512 Club — named for Austin's area code — is a locals lounge reserved for Austin-area residents.
Greg Rosenbaum, senior vice president of programming at SXSW, oversees a slate that is seeing serious demand. PanelPicker submissions and Music and Film & TV festival applications for 2027 are up by as much as 50 percent over the previous cycle, the organisation reported.
That surge in applications suggests the 2026 contraction in dates did not cool interest from creators and speakers. The 2026 edition dropped from nine days to seven, and 2027 holds that tighter line while adding a podcast vertical and rethinking where attendees gather.
For badge holders, the practical upshot is a denser week with more overlapping programming across a wider spread of downtown venues. For Austin residents, the 512 Club opens a dedicated space inside the festival that did not exist before. And for podcasters, SXSW has built a new tentpole inside one of the most established convergence festivals in North America.
