SXSW 2026
SXSW announces final 2026 lineup with Jane Fonda, Alanis Morissette

Jane Fonda is headed to South by Southwest to talk about the first amendment.
Just over a week before South by Southwest (SXSW) begins, festival organizers have announced the final additions to the lineup, spanning music, film, conference topics, and more. The festival as a whole runs from March 12-18.
It's a big update, so here are some shortened notes.
First, there's a new keynote speaker. In SXSW's terms, featured speakers are anyone who will be speaking on a panel. Keynote speakers are usually either speaking alone or being interviewed, and they tend to have large audiences.
The new keynote features three speakers: actress and longtime activist Jane Fonda, comedian W. Kamau Bell, and the ACLU’s Jessica Weitz. Called Say It Louder: Artists, Activism & the First Amendment, this talk is about how artists can "challenge power" and take action in adverse circumstances.
Plus, there's an update to an existing session: Phil Schiller, who spent 35 years with Apple and is a former SVP of global marketing, will join CBS's David Pogue in David Pogue on Apple’s First 50 Years.
There are also 11 new featured sessions, as follows:
- A Talk About Life, Sibling Rivalry and The Lonely Island with Jorma Taccone and Asa Taccone, two Emmy Award-winning brother
- Baby, This is Keke Palmer Live with Keke Palmer and the cast of I Love Boosters, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, Eiza González, Poppy Liu and Demi Moore
- Bob Odenkirk: Entering His Action Hero Phase and the State of Action Films with the Team Behind NORMAL with Collider’s Perri Nemiroff, actor and screenwriter Bob Odenkirk, director Ben Wheatley, writer Derek Kolstad, and producer Marc Provissiero
- Breaking Barriers, Building Solutions: Meet the Changemakers Transforming Health Innovation with Serena Williams, Reckitt Catalyst, Catherine Casey Nanda, Kwamane Liddell, Mika Eddy, and Ryan Dullea
- Chaos, Craft, and Chris Fleming with comedian Chris Fleming
- Clips & Conversation with Riz Ahmed on BAIT with Emmy and Oscar-winning actor Riz Ahmed
- Founder-Led Growth: Turning Audience Signal into AI-Powered Commerce with Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni, cofounders of shopping agent Phia
- Matt Strauss & Andy Cohen: Community, Culture & the Future of Entertainment with Matt Strauss, Andy Cohen, and S.E. Cupp
- Networth and Chill with guest Governor Gavin Newsom with Your Rich BFF Vivian Tufor and Governor Gavin Newsom
- Not All Superheroes Wear Capes: Out of the Kitchen, Into the Comic with World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés, writer Steve Orlando, and Marvel Comics editor Nick Lowe
- Play It Live: How Livestreaming is Rewriting the Rules of Music with Twitch’s Head of Community Mary Kish, musician Tierra Whack, and DJ_Dave
Next up is music. A press release identifies some of the highlights among newly added events:
- Jack Johnson with Hermanos Gutiérrez, in support of the premiere of SURFILMUSIC
- Vic Mensa, in addition to his Featured Session, with up-and-coming acts he selected from live stream submissions
- Multi-Grammy nominated singer-songwriter Ingrid Andress
- Atlanta-based pop-punk band The Paradox
- Black Midi co-founder Geordie Greep
- DJ, producer and electronic artist ZHU
- renowned Buffalo rapper and Griselda crew member Benny The Butcher
- Latin pop performer EMJAY blending urban, R&B and electronic influences
- up-and-coming R&B crooner JayDon
- Chicago DJ and producer Hiroko Yamamura
- rapper, singer and producer Ty Dolla $ign
- Radiohead guitarist and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Ed O’Brien in a conference session
- Spofity celebrates its 20th anniversary at Stubb's with singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette, country artist Ella Langley, and St. Vincent as the night's DJ
On the comedy side, three additions bring Bill Burr for a live episode of The Monday Morning Podcast, Devon Walker and Alex English for their standup show DAD, and another show by Dropout, Dropout Improv Does A Pretty Flower.
Vox Media has announced talent for its podcast stage from March 13-15, including Brené Brown and Adam Grant; Jesse David Fox and Eric André; Keith Lee; Kara Swisher with Jonathan Glazer and Billy Magnussen; Swisher again with Scott Galloway; Galloway again with Ed Elson; Robin Arzon and Mark Cuban; Galloway again and Jessica Tarlov; Tefi Pessoa with Lisa Kudrow and Michael Patrick King; Astead Herndon; Marques Brownlee, Andrew Manganelli, and David Imel; and Esther Perel and Spike Jonze.
Finally, a Marketing Leadership Summit gets advice from major brands.
There's still time to get SXSW credentials. Platinum and Festival Badges ($1,995 or $820-1,395, respectively) are on sale now at sxsw.com. These badges give attendees priority access to certain events.
