officially and unofficially free

Here are 10+ SXSW events that are free for everyone

Art Island is one of many local organizations hosting free events.

So you didn't buy a wristband. Welcome to the club. South by Southwest (SXSW) brings so many events to Austinites' doorsteps that it's hard not to do something during the conference and festival.

The lines are ever more blurred between official and unofficial events. Many unofficial events have high production value and the freedom to do basically anything they want. An array of official ones exist either on the fringes of Austin or for the sole purpose of getting as much foot traffic as possible. Just remember, official events will always prioritize visitors with credentials, so be prepared with a backup in case of long lines.

These free events are hard to nail down, so here's a list of some of the most promising official and unofficial happenings that welcome the public without any ticket price. We'll keep adding events as we hear of them.

Looking for live music? Here's our music columnist's top picks for free music showcases. Many of the events below also feature live performances, but each has a little something extra, too.

Official

Pura Vida Experience
March 8 and 9, times vary
It can be a little emotionally complicated to watch all the tourists having a vacation while Austinites work; Perhaps a proxy visit to Costa Rica will help? This official SXSW "house" is welcoming visitors even if they don't have a badge, although a backup is a good idea in case it's very crowded. Here at Fareground, would-be travelers can enjoy Costa Rican coffee, massages, nail art, and a community gratitude wall. As usual for this space, these offerings are wellness-oriented.

Audible Sound Experience
March 8-10 from 1-8 pm
The audiobook platform Audible brings some of the most involved, high production-value events to SXSW every year. Last year, that included a sound booth for recording memories to vinyl. This year, that includes a whole ferris wheel in the parking lot at 3rd Street and Congress. Passersby can join the festivities including listening to audiobook snippets on the wheel, playing carnival-inspired games for Audible-themed prizes, and snacking on carnival concessions like hot dogs, cotton candy, and popsicles.

Waterloo Greenway Community Market
March 10 from 2-5 pm
To celebrate the unveiling of a new Waterloo Park mural by Austin artists Ruben Esquivel and Kat Talley, arts and culture nonprofit Future Front Texas is hosting a local pop-up market featuring over 20 artisans and entrepreneurs. Attendees can shop handmade candles, art, textiles, and jewelry from vendors such as Neon Swan Studio, Tawa Threads, Ivelisse Designs, and more. Event partner Delta Airlines will sponsor interactive activities, including a build-your-own hand-tied bouquet with Wildly Flowered and a create-and-design-your-own plane activity.

All Things Food Summit
March 14 from 9:30 am to midnight
This annual summit is an official event, but it's certainly off the beaten path. Held at Barr Mansion in North Austin, this all-day food summit will feature more than 60 speakers, also offering tastings, film viewings, and live performances. It's organized in collaboration between Huston-Tillotson University and Food Tank, a global nonprofit that works on bolstering food security and solving problems in agriculture and nutrition. Many Austinites will be there including chefs, farmers, writers, and food policy makers.

Extended FAM presents: A Taste of Houston
March 14 from 7-11 pm
Get ready to be transported from Austin's festival setting to Houston’s vibrant cultural lifestyle. Extended FAM’s pop-up at Revival Coffee will immerse visitors in Houston’s food, art, and music scenes with food by Boo’s Burgers and Taqueria Del Sol; art by Donkeeboy, Donkeemom, and Mister G; and live performances by seven Houston-based artists. Admission is free on a first-come, first-served basis, but those with SXSW badges will be granted priority entry. (This hybrid event contains a link to an official Sunday SVC day of Christian programming, but does not seem to be explicitly faith-based.)

~Pourri's Funk Factory Experience presented by Rolling Stone
March 15 & 16, times vary
Yes, you read that right: Poo-Pourri is hosting its own two-day activation at Speakeasy during the final weekend of SXSW, featuring special performances by big name acts like DJ Johnny Jane (a.k.a. Janelle Monáe), DJ Questlove, BLK ODYSSEY, Natasha Diggs, and others. Three funk-themed events include a pop-up speakeasy, panel discussions, a live-taped podcast with celebrity guests, an industry mixer, and a "refreshing" rest stop, "~Pourri's 5-star bathroom experience," intended for use in between events.

Unofficial

Panel Discussion on Representation and Gender Equity in the Beverage Business
March 8 from 6:30-7:30 pm
On International Women’s Day, female leaders from Austin’s alcoholic beverage industry are meeting at Central Machine Works to discuss the underrepresentation of women in the male-dominated beverage industry. Among the list of six panelists include Central Machine Works’ Brewer Jill Paluch and Beverage Director Addie Hauber, Independence Brewing Co. President and Co-founder Amy Cartwright, and The Spirit of Women film director Leigha Kingsley. While you’re there, the brewery will debut the 2024 Pink Boots Society beer, a Saison.

Affordable Art Fair's Unofficial SX Art Experience
March 9 from 3-7 pm
Almost everyone loves art, but sometimes making it attainable can be a challenge. Affordable Art Fair is partnering with Vaughn Gallery, where festival attendees can nab budget-friendly, but collectible art pieces and learn more about the brand’s mission to make art more accessible to shoppers. This will prep them for the art fair's official Austin debut from May 16-19, with works starting at $100. Sommelier Cori Teague will also be at the showcase to lead guests through the world of wine from 3-4 pm.

Art Island presents Austin Edge
March 12 from 1-8 pm, plus ticketed event until midnight
Folks who want this festival to feel like one — fun outfits, dance music, etc. — should stop by Art Island's unofficial "pop-up culture hub" at The Portal (note: changed from DadaLab). This group with Burning Man roots throws some of Austin's best artist parties, and is planning a very full day of live performances, panels, workshops, and art experiences. That includes things like an herb bar, collaging, dance yoga, and talks on wellness and community activism through art. At 8 pm this turns into a ticketed event ($40) with an open bar.

Ilegal Mezcal x Paste Magazine East Austin Block Party
March 13-15 from 12-7 pm
Hosted by High Noon and The Coral Snake, festival goers can jam out to 63 bands across four different stages during the East Austin Block Party at High Noon and The Coral Snake. X Ambassadors, Shannon and the Clams, Being Dead, and Allegra Krieger are scheduled to perform throughout the weekend, as are several other highly anticipated acts. Ilegal Mezcal will give away free screen printed block party t-shirts, offer free live chain stitching, and free flash tattoos by local artist Scott Barbier.

Music industry talks at First Light Books
March 13 & 15
Two authors who had official panels are taking similar talks to First Light Books, a new cafe and independent bookstore in Hyde Park. First up is Audrey Golden, author of I Thought I Heard You Speak: Women At Factory Records. Golden will be talking to longtime Austin musician and writer Jesse Sublett of The Skunks. Then comes Shain Shapiro, author of This Must Be The Place: How Music Can Make Your City Better. Shapiro's talk focuses on city-level advocacy for better music policy, and will feature an important Austin change-maker in the musical sphere.

Talk to Song Confessional at KUTX Live at Scholz Garten 2024
March 13-16 from 8 am to noon
A unique podcast by Austin musicians is soliciting secrets during this local radio station's multi-day showcase. Walker Lukens and Zac Catanzaro are setting up the Song Confessional trailer, where they'll collect anonymous stories from anyone who has one to tell. If one of their musical friends like Buffalo Hunt or Croy and the Boys likes the story, they'll turn it into a song. This venture isn't mentioned in the event listing, but CultureMap got the scoop directly from the hosts in this interview.

Get Roasted with Removery and La Colombe Coffee
March 15 & 16 from noon to 6 pm
Whether a free tattoo sounds like a good idea or reminds you of a bad prior decision, this day party honors both. Free tattoos and tattoo removals are on the table, plus free drinks and merch, whatever that entails. Tattoos will be provided by Austinites Scott Weatherwax and Jess Ritchie. The removals are sponsored by Removery, which is headquartered in Austin. This event is filling up fast, so RSVP as soon as you can, and try and get there early for best chances at receiving a free service.

Red Bud Ice House preview party
March 17 from 2-6 pm
In practice this is mostly a music event, but it's also going to be a cool way to stay up-to-date in Austin's food scene. Red Bud Ice House has moved in at the former location of Contigo and, briefly, BBQ Ramen Tatsu-ya. The original Contigo founders are involved in the new concept, so old fans will likely find many comforting similarities. Apparently there will be a "limited menu" available, so the event is free, but the food doesn't appear to be. This is a preview two days ahead of the official opening on March 19. Back to the entertainment: The lineup is a showcase by local nonprofit label Spaceflight Records.

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road trip with a rock star

Grace Potter's SXSW Audience Award-winning film gets nationwide release

Photo courtesy of Grace Potter

Grace Potter executive produced a film about finding family through music that's premiering at SXSW in 2024.

At South by Southwest in 2024, the music documentary Resynator won the Audience Award, a contest based on audience votes right after the film is shown.

It was a stamp of approval for the film's merit beyond its star power; some people may have been drawn in knowing it was produced by musician Grace Potter or that it featured lots of her famous peers, but they ended up loving the work as a whole.

The Resynator team has now announced that people all over the country will be able to watch the film, which chronicles an early synthesizer invention and family fallout, starting December 13. Anyone can rent or buy it via AppleTV, Prime Video, Google Play, and Fandango At Home, and select theaters will play a live screening. (Unfortunately, none of them are in Austin.)

To introduce the work to new audiences, below is CultureMap's original coverage from February 9, 2024 — about a month before the film's premiere.

Grace Potter has always wanted to be someone specific and perhaps surprising: "a woman who drove an old truck and had a laundromat in Austin, Texas."

Well, we suppose there's still time for that. Before that dream is realized, she'll be a woman who plays Austin City Limits Live on February 16, then one who has executive produced a documentary premiering at South by Southwest (SXSW) on March 10, 2024. And that's nothing to scoff at.

Since the early aughts, Potter has become known as a real-deal rock musician — one who stands up to the old ideals of classic rock while embracing a more contemporary, versatile aesthetic. She's known for songs like "Paris (Ooh La La)" with her band, the Nocturnals, and "Something That I Want" as a solo project featured on the Tangled soundtrack.

Grace Potter is known for her vintage rock style.Photo courtesy of Adrien Broom

Both of her most popular songs are overtly feminine on opposite sides of the spectrum — from gritty and rebellious to hopeful and bubbly — but neither trips over the benevolently limiting tropes strewn around for women musicians. She doesn't need a schtick; she's gained rock credence from her own artistic vision as well as projects with the Grateful Dead, the Rolling Stones, the Allman Brothers Band, Willie Nelson, and Neil Young.

"I think that coked-up white dudes from the '70s have been celebrated a lot," says Potter from her tour bus in Macon, Georgia (of course). "And I've been a part of a lot of that celebration... The entire generation of people that made music at that time seem to just touch on a blend of musicality in an era where music from all different corners of the earth started to gel together. I think there's a real ubermusical moment there."

Resynator
Her SXSW project, Resynator, continues following the impactful-men-from-the-'70s thread through another feminine lens.

Director Alison Tavel, Potter's best friend and tour manager at the start of the film, has been collecting information for a decade about her musician father, Don Tavel, who died when she was only 10 weeks old. Don developed a synthesizer called The Resynator, which he himself called "the precursor to MIDI," but this particular synthesizer fell out of use, and it became his daughter's goal to revive it.

Money Mark and Alison TavelStill from Resynator

The film offers a tour through some of the music industry's greatest innovators and entertainers: Peter Gabriel, Fred Armisen, Gotye, Jon Anderson, Mike Gordon, and Potter's husband, producer Eric Valentine, among others. But between the star power and the electronic tinkering are more emotional, personal scenes with family. Alison's mother represents a level of complication in Don's image that was invisible to his daughter; Don's mother represents an origin for this complexity.

Potter, who appears briefly a few times, holds space for pivotal moments: the inception of the idea, the shift from fact-finding to traveling with The Resynator, and eventually, the posthumous resolution between father and daughter. Although she must have been a useful collaborator in parlaying with all these famous musicians, she is also one of the women forming the emotional core of the film.

"There were moments all along the way where [Alison] wanted to quit," says Potter. "Basically my job as EP was to get her in front of as many musicians as possible, [and to] create as many opportunities as possible for her to continue pushing through her vision and of course the occasional mental breakdown."

Family and nostalgia as art engines
A mother herself, Potter doesn't know why exactly she gravitates toward stories about family and images of nostalgia. She seems good at the common creative advice, write what you know.

She remembers as a child trying to dismantle the "female singers" section of her mother's record collection, yet now realizes its existence steered her to a strong appreciation of Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, and Nina Simone. She doesn't seek out family projects, but her latest album, Mother Road, is a direct result of returning to her hometown with her husband and son, grieving a miscarriage, and becoming obsessed with long rental car drives.

"[The nostalgia is] very much always there. It's not something at the forefront of my mind," says Potter. "It's such an amazing thing to wake up ... and to feel like I was born into the wrong time, but I love this. And [we] have the shepherds of our family to bring us to influences and inspiration that allow our creativity to flow."

She continues, referring to the familial questions that drove Resynator, "It really brought in so much gratitude for me that I had the ability to come up in a world where I didn't have to ask those questions. But it also made me [think about] my kid — Sagan, he's 6 now — what kind of table am I setting for him to sit down at?"

Texas and South by Southwest
Whatever tables she sets, the nostalgia clearly inspires some wanderlust in Potter. Although the singer is from Vermont, she grew up spending the winters with her grandparents in Albuquerque. She often uses images of the Southwest, especially in Mother Road, and has plenty of admiration for Texas as part of it.

"I just remember it being so foreign at first, the terrain and the way that the hills roll, especially as you get through New Mexico and and start entering into Texas," she says. "There's that big-sky, wide-open-range, horizon-for-days experience. I was so cosseted in Vermont. I mean, every mountain around me felt like a hug. And as I grew up, I think that curiosity and that sort of headlong-into-the-howling-wind feeling ... was urgent, like on a cellular level. And it is the epitome, I think, [of] Texas."

Grace Potter desert landscape The artsy thrifted aesthetic works for Potter wherever she goes.Photo courtesy of Grace Potter

In a much more urban sense, South by Southwest represents a similar unknown in its potential for making creative encounters. (If you see her this year, ask her about Dr. Dog, Jack Antonoff, Phoenix, Robert Plant, and her hotel room party.) She's been going in various capacities since 2005, and always leaves room in her schedule for impromptu collaborations.

"There's so many things about the film industry and the music industry that I've always enjoyed, that cross over," Potter says. "And South by Southwest is one of the rare places where you can really actively see it happening. You can see and meet filmmakers who are inherently inspired by [music] — sometimes even their whole story starts with a song."

"It's been many years of me wanting to find my footing in both the film and music worlds ... and make some kind of a Trojan horse out of the whole thing," she concludes. "And it's finally starting to come together. It only took me 20 years."

music film movies sxsw texas live music