South by Southwest has found some new directions on the compass: In June 2025, SXSW London will bring the leading global festival, in its biggest expansion ever, to Europe.
Badges will go on-sale this October for the London event which, like the original in Austin that has steadily grown over 40 years, will feature panel discussions, tech presentations, film screenings, music performances, networking events, sponsorship activations, and so much more. Register your interest in attending here.
The usual edition of SXSW in Austin will also take place March 7-15, 2025, without any alteration.
“As a life-long fan of SXSW I truly believe that it’s more than an event — it’s a movement, a platform where the world’s greatest minds, musicians and motivators come to share their passion and their vision of the future,” said Randel Bryan, managing director of SXSW London.
“I am delighted to welcome SXSW to London for the first time ever — confirming our place at the heart of Europe’s tech and creative sectors and as a global capital of culture,” said Sadiq Khan, mayor of London.
“When I was part of SXSW in Austin in 2018, I saw first-hand the electric atmosphere of innovation SXSW creates and I can’t wait to be part of it again,” Khan added. “This is a historic opportunity for London to once again bring the world’s most exciting talent together as part of our mission to build a better and more prosperous London for everyone.”
London, with its population of over 20 million, is inarguably one of the most diverse, culturally rich cities on the planet, a hub for the arts and tech to rival any city anywhere. Many London-based musicians, such as Dua Lipa and Ed Sheeran, have played at SXSW in Austin in the past. Not to mention that, with its generous tax incentives, lottery financing system, and major studio infrastructure, the U.K. is one of the world’s leading countries for film production.
Hey, it was none other than New York Magazine, which wrote this in 2012: “If Paris was the capital of the nineteenth century and New York of the twentieth, London is shaping up to be the capital of the 21st.”
An edition of SXSW in London certainly seems like another sign that that prophecy is turning out to be true.