Now that Austin City Limits Festival is over, there’s a void in Austinites’ consciousness where mega-lineups go. The 37th South by Southwest is swooping in with nearly 200 performers from around the world. The multi-hyphenate festival has just announced its first round of showcasing artists, to visit venues all over Austin from March 13-18, 2023.

The festival is always a hectic, but exhilarating mix of official and unofficial events, series, last-minute surprises, and shows to accidentally end up at during a normal evening out. Showcases are essentially SXSW-curated concerts, presented by industry partners in labels, booking agencies, and even media outlets or lifestyle brands.

Showcases are often part of other multi-day plans: for instance, in 2022, M for Montreal took over the Swan Dive on Red River Street for four nights of showcases, where it also hosted a cocktail party and networking event. It is returning for more in 2023. Gorilla vs Bear, another returning curation partner, held a similar event at Seven Grand and Las Perlas, with showcases by a dozen artists, which doubled as an afterparty for the premier of feature film Jethica.

Of the more than 190 performers on the first-round roster, 13 were from Austin: Being Dead, Big Bill, Chief Cleopatra, Colin Gilmore, Die Spitz, Fragile Rock, fuvk, Jad Fair and The Placebos, Letting Up Despite Great Faults, San Saba County, TC Superstar, Tribe Mafia, and Why Bonnie. Only two more were from elsewhere in Texas: Ariel & The Culture from Dallas, and Fat Tony from Houston.

There are lots of ways for Austinites and visitors to enjoy SXSW without a badge — including showcase artists participating in other events while in town — but showcases do require credentials. A music badge ($695) gives priority to music events like these, but other badge holders (film & TV for $995 and interactive for $1,095) get secondary access. Registration pages for each badge type show a full breakdown of which events are and are not included.

A full schedule goes up on October 25, detailing when, where, and for which attendees individual shows are going on. Users can add events to their own customized schedule. More rounds of showcase selections will be announced as planning progresses. This information and more on-demand content is available at schedule.sxsw.com.