City Guides

Where To Eat During South By Southwest

February 24, 2022

Where to Eat During SXSW

If you’re one of the nearly 300,000 people who flock to our hometown of Austin, TX for South By Southwest each year (or are just considering going), there can be a lot to learn and think about. As one of the biggest festivals on the planet, there’s something for everyone to love — so let’s dive in.

What is SXSW?

SXSW (a.k.a. South By Southwest or South By) is a collection of festivals dedicated to the arts, music, technology, and more. Dating back to 1987, SXSW was a 700-person music festival that has transformed and evolved into a 10-day event that takes over the entire city of Austin and attracts attendees from across the globe.

The event consists of three primary festivals (SXSW Music, SXSW Film, and SXSW Comedy), with countless other conferences, exhibitions, awards, speakers, and unofficial events. No matter what your interests are, there are guaranteed to be events that you’d enjoy or discover something new.

When is it this year?

SXSW in 2022 is from Friday, March 11th until Sunday, March 20th. During that time, the SXSW Film Festival runs from March 11th to March 19th, the SXSW Music Festival lasts from March 14th to March 20th, and SXSW Comedy goes from March 11th to March 15th.

What are SXSW badges?

While not mandatory to go to SXSW events, you can purchase badges that act as VIP access to the corresponding events and allow you to skip the lines. The in-person options are the Music Badge, Film Badge, Interactive Badge, and Platinum Badge, with their prices starting at $1,395 for the full 10 days of the festival.

However, these aren’t necessary to experience SXSW (as long as you’re willing to wait in lines) and there are always plenty of unofficial events that happen around the city that you don’t need badges for.

Pick your events

One of the biggest mistakes that people make when it comes to SXSW is trying to do everything — there’s simply too much. Our personal favorite is the SXSW Music Festival, which has an incredible list of alumni that includes everyone from Johnny Cash, The Strokes, and Motörhead to Dua Lipa, Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish, and Run The Jewels (view more here). There’s so much to love about our home city and this iconic festival, and we want to introduce you not only to the activities, but the incredible food of ATX as well.

Where to eat during SXSW

SXSW is a 10-day marathon of events, so you’ll need to stay fueled up between keynotes, showcases, concerts, exhibitions, and more. This is where planning comes in handy, as where you eat will depend on where you are and where the next stop is — so we’ve broken down our top picks by the most popular areas of the city for SXSW.

Enjoy the festivities & food

South By Southwest and Austin are both well-known for their fun atmosphere, so enjoy the week of activities and exploring. Whether it’s your first SXSW or your tenth, there’s always something new to do (or eat) and more parts of the city to discover. For more things to check out and places to eat while you’re in Austin, check out our city guide!

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