SXSW Festival is known to be a Texas thing and has been held in the state since it launched in Austin, in 1987. This summer, however, the festival is coming to London for a six-day culture extravaganza.
The tech, culture, music, and film festival, which is accompanied by a jam-packed conference, has celebrated and helped catapult some innovative ideas and performers onto the world stage.
SXSW is less of a festival and more of a cultural movement; this is where Twitter, now known as X, and Airbnb were launched.
It is also the place where Billie Eilish got to play her first gig, where filmmaker Greta Gerwig made her mark with Bridesmaids, and the UK’s very own Stormzy embarked on conquering the US.
The festival has seen speakers like Barack Obama, Matthew McConaughey, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg, among others, grace at the event.
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This year, among the famous faces making appearances at the festival, are Londoner-born DJ and actor Idris Elba; comic Katherine Ryan; Grammy winner Tems; Wyclef Jean; and consciousness explorer Deepak Chopra.
SXSW will run from June 2 to 7 in venues around Shoreditch.
Even though Idris Elba seems to have his hands full with the launch of his campaign around knife crime in the UK, he is still set to perform at the festival.
It would not be a surprise for him to appear in all parts of the festival’s program due to his various music, documentaries, and philanthropic projects.
Also on the bill is the Nigerian-born London singer Tems, who is set to headline Billboard The Stage at London SXSW.
Tems, known for high-profile collaborative success with the likes of Drake, Wizkid, and Beyoncé, is a Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and self-taught producer who is currently touring and still promoting her Born in the Wild album.
