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. :)
this is pretty common actually. the rule of thumb is label parties are wide open and publication parties are invite only. it looks a bit skewed this year because there seems to be about 3x as many parties as there was last year. but some that say badge/invite only are not as strict as they seem. i have acted oblivious and walked in to many badge only partied and no one said a word. just act like you belong there…
Here’s a day party that isn’t invite only! It’s Friday, March 17th!! St Patrick’s Day!!! Doors are at noon and the show is at Flamingo Cantina, right in the heart of the SXSW(313 E 7th)!! Check out this most awesome line up!!!THE DATSUNS along with PRIESTESS** BLACK LAMB** GOGOGO AIRHEART** THE APES** THE OMENS** MACHINE GUN BLUES** THE FUNERAL and its presented by Denvers Larimer Lounge! Please come, thank you.