SXSW to launch London edition next year

South By Southwest (SXSW), the creativity festival from Austin, Texas is launching its London edition next year.

The multi-day festival has been running for four decades and has hosted the likes of Barack Obama, Mark Zuckerberg and Amy Winehouse.

The announcement comes a month after this year's edition in Texas, which was largely boycotted by programmed artists, including all 12 of its Irish acts, due to sponsorship by arms manufacturers involved with the Israeli Defence Forces and their military operations on Gaza.

Its London edition will take place over the course of a week in June 2025 in Shoreditch.

Randel Bryan, managing director of SXSW Europe told Reuters: "We'll be calling into every single drop of London's creativity and its energy."

The wait is over, the cat's out of the bag, the world’s most incredible creativity and tech event is coming to Europe. London, June 2025

Sign up to find out about exclusive ticket releases and to be the first in the know - link in bio 🔗 pic.twitter.com/MAgMVedr7U

— sxswlondon (@sxswlondon2025) May 8, 2024

Back in March, Irish artists including Gurriers, Newdad, Chalk, Cardinals, Enola Gay and singer-songwriter Reevah, made a public statement at SXSW, saying: “Sponsorship of the festival from defence contractors and those selling arms to destroy innocent lives is an act we find disgusting and reprehensible.”

“To be clear,” they continued, “we as Music From Ireland bands, are not partaking in any official SXSW shows. We stand in complete solidarity with others who have spoken out and boycotted SXSW.”

Speaking to Hot Press during a pro-Palestine rally in Austin, Gurriers' Pierce Callaghan commented: “We’ve made big sacrifices this week, tough decisions, it’s cutting, but Jesus, it’s really and truly nothing compared to what people are going through over there in Palestine.”

In a controvertial statement on X, SXSW organisers responded by saying:

"Across the globe, we are witnessing unspeakable tragedies, the rise of repressive regimes, and the increasing spread of violent conflict. It’s more crucial than ever that we come together to solve these greater humanitarian issues."

"The defence industry has historically been a proving ground for many of the systems we rely on today."