SXSW 2023 marks the 30th year of the Film & TV, Music, Edu, and Interactive Festival, and it’s the closest the fest has gotten to pre-pandemic attendance. With that comes new and exciting events put on by different studios and companies, all here to highlight their media debuting. If you’ve never been to SXSW, the festival is home to events thrown by companies attending the festival to highlight their brand. But while the brand may be the focus for these activations, they often focus on specific films, series, or IPs. Events at SXSW 2023, we got the chance to get to experiences crafted around some great titles that were unlike anything we’ve seen before. From Amazon to Showtime and so many brands in between, here are our events of SXSW 2023 round-up.
Prime Texas
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Prime Video pulled out all the stops for their 2023 SXSW event with their debut of the newly incorporated “Prime, Texas.” The experience will transported attendees to the Lone Star State of their dreams, showcasing elements that celebrate a variety of titles such as Daisy Jones & The Six, The Boys, Swarm, The Summer I Turned Pretty, The Power, Academy of Country Music Awards, I’m A Virgo, Harlem, and Carnival Row. Taking over an entire hotel, each room was themed with elements from each series with signature drinks, food, and photo options. Not to mention a free thrifted denim jacket that we could customize with local Austin artists.
Beginning with a three-part experience celebrating Daisy Jones & The Six, guests can immerse themselves into the show’s soundscape in the Sound City control booth, exploring various isolated music stems from the series’ signature album “Aurora”. The next room will offer guests a chance to be part of the Six, where they can take pictures in the Sound City studio with the sounds of the Six radiating throughout the room. Free People will be onsite with an influencer styling suite bringing outfits from their collection inspired by Daisy Jones & The Six.
Prime, Texas also featured a semi-permanent tattoo parlor with the help of Inkbox, where attendees can get made-to-fade tattoos featuring icons of their favorite Prime Video titles, hand-drawn by local Austin tattoo artists. Consumers can also step into The Power room, where they’ll discover a mysterious power changing the world, with interactive wall elements that let them harness it at their fingertips. Prime, Texas also offered a variety of locally sourced, Texas-inspired food and beverage with a Prime Video twist. From celebrating the supes from The Boys with curated cocktails in the risqué XXXclusive Bar to The Academy of Country Music Awards Tavern Bar will also serve themed beverages with southern hospitality flair. Finally, Austin bakery Tiny Pies created pies themed to their favorite characters from The Summer I Turned Pretty at Cousin’s Beach Pie Stand. They can also pose for photo ops in the beach-style booth or soak up the sun at the summer inspired pool.
And of course there were photo ops with the Carnival Row wings installation or in the Everything Grows in Harlem plant shop, inspired by Harlem’s newest season
Dungeons & Dragons Tavern
Themed to celebrate the world premiere of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, the opening night movie of the fest, the Highball was transformed into a tavern. Filled with props and costumes from the film, a giant gelatinous cube on the stage, Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar’s High Ball was an immersive experience with a signature cocktail and tavern music to set the adventuring mood. While this wasn’t the most elaborate of the events at SXSW 2023, it was the most immersive and a great experience after watching the film opening night.
Paramount+’s The Lodge
Throughout the weekend, Paramount+ hosted The Lodge, an event that took over Rainey St.’s The Clive Bar. Made to be a ski resort fit with a pass to hole punch at each activity, we got the chance to experience Paramount+ originals and franchises that included1923, Star Trek, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, Fatal Attraction and School Spirits, Rabbit Hole (which premiered at the festival), and more.
Confused by the ski lodge theme? Well, The Lodge is an iteration of the record-breaking Mountain of Entertainment campaign, delivering the ultimate “mountain lodge” atmosphere for fans in Mammoth and Steamboat in addition to Austin for SXSW. Taking over the entire three-story bar, we also got to enjoy themed custom cocktails at the built-out 1923 Speakeasy Bar, spacey speakeasy Star Trek 10 Forward Bar and Ice Cave sports bar celebrating Paramount+ Sports.
Paramount pulled out all of the stops and presented one of the most creative experiences for SXSW. From signature cocktails to entirely unique immersive moments that show far a good photo op can go in creating fun, we can’t wait to see what the streamer brings out for 2024.
Audible x SXSW
For SXSW 2023, Audible invited SXSW attendees to visit The Audible Sound Studio, which immersed guests in Audible’s premium music storytelling offerings, including volumes from the Words + Music series, “Origins,” and “Breakthrough.” During The Audible Sound Studio’s public hours, the studio featured themed listening moments, photo opportunities, DJ sets, performances, and daily public happy hours. But that’s not all! Adventurous festival-goers had the opportunity to receive “Origins”-inspired, made-to-fade tattoos at the “Origins x Ephemeral Tattoo Studio.” Ephemeral’s ink is made with a medical grade solution and carefully selected pigments that allow the body to remove it naturally over time—most tattoos last about one year.
The event captured the beauty of words and music in every facet. In the opening room, visitors got to experience sound in unique ways at various listening stations and through the DJ at the front of the stage. And in the next room, visitors got to see the beauty of record creation and even learn more about Breakthrough, the first-ever singing competition developed and launched exclusively as a podcast. the most exciting experience at The Audible Sound Studio was creating your own vinyl—yes, you cut your own record! Attendees were able to live-record their own song, poem or story in the “Words + Music” recording booth, where experts will cut their recordings directly onto a vinyl record.
House of Robb
The House of Robb offered SXSW an “elevated oasis,” complete with panel programming, culinary hospitality provided by the finest local chefs, cocktail hours, and much more. The weekend at House of Robb, sponsored by the Robb Report, centered around amazing people, food, cocktails, wine, luxury immersions, celebrations of craftsmanship, and a very curated experience within the open architecture of SXSW. The panel presentations were immersive and diverse in terms of topic. But in addition to that, the best moment was the wine and spirits tastings that showcased not just the depth of flavor but the depth that each company has both in their origin, creation of the beverages, and of course, their mission statement. Mijenta Tequila was a true standout. A carbon-neutral product dedicated to empowering the Mexican city in which it comes from, the distillery isn’t just great at producing great tequila but making an impact too.
Roku City
The first event that Roku has ever put on for SXSW, Roku City featuring the Best Buy Home Theater Experience is inspired by Roku City, the brand’s TV- and film-inspired screensaver that’s become somewhat viral. But let’s be honest, the amazing crew working in Roky City are the real stars. Roku didn’t just invite attendees for a screensaver come to life, but they fully immersed you. With an area of love, a mad scientist treating you while there were amazing storm sequences on the wall, every bit of the experience stood out as one of the best of the fest.
The event featured the Roku City Rooftop Diner where guests found their favorite movie and TV meal references within the diner’s pop-up menu. It had the Roku City Park where attendants could stroll under the trees, monster-watch, and sip Roku City’s finest coffee. But it’s a city isn’t finished until there is a shop and this event also featured the Roku City Style Shop for people to choose a new look featuring creative, purple accents perfect for their journey to a new world. And finally, for all the movie lovers attending events as SXSW 2023, there was the Best Buy Home Theater Experience for visitors to sit back and relax while checking out the latest Roku devices available at Best Buy and new Roku Originals and entertainment on The Roku Channel.
Camp Yellowjackets
Yellowjackets are a hit series, and with its second season coming out so close to SXSW, of course, they had to show up for SXSW. An interactive experience at Austin’s Fair Market, Showtime asked attendees to brave the wilderness and of course make some memories with rituals, fireside chats, survival skills, and team building. The Camp Yellowjackets experience created the look of an abandoned 1990s summer camp with ax throwing, BBQ (which is definitely and totally not people), and specialty cocktails the event managed to make the event memorable. But the event at SXSW 2023 was most appreciated by Yellowjackets fans with mushroom tea, and an outdoor area themed like the plane crash site. As one of the most events at SXSW 2023 the inside of the Fair Market was covered with snow and even a pop-up cabin that felt like you were in the middle of nowhere, the amount of care put into it all was amazing.
Did your favorite of the events at SXSW 2023 make the list? Let us know on social media.
