Okay, I guess I am a newbie to SXSW. I went last year and I’m going this year, so I am by no means a seasoned expert.
However, as I remember last year, the majority of day shows were free and open to the public. Granted, there were some “invitation only” events, which is to be expected, but everything else was wide wide open.
This time around, however, I’ve seen a bunch of day shows listed as “badge holders only.” What the ? ! I mean, even the actual evening events are not badges only!
I really think the events that have structured themselves this way are doing a disservice to the festival. If you kept it open like a lot of other shows are doing, it allows a more diverse crowd of people. There is surely a lot of college kids in Austin who can’t afford a wristband or a badge, so the free shows are all they have.
Maybe there’s some secret reason for doing this that I don’t know about, but on the surface level it just doesn’t seem right.
End of rant. :)
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