I've lived in Austin a couple years but have never attended SXSW.

I'm not interested in purchasing any tickets but is it possible just to park downtown and stumble into events? What is the best way to experience the free shows/events? Just looking for any tips from the Austinites on the board.

I've got free downtown parking through work so figured the girlfriend and I would stumble around this weekend.

Also, saw this on reddit for some free events:
https://www.austin360.com/story/entertainment/2022/03/07/free-parties-drinks-food-sxsw-2022-austin-no-badge-required-rsvp/6846512001/

Thanks.

We started going in '91 and stopped in '01. Looked into going this year but, badges went up to $1300 from $800 last year. My daughter wanted to go skiing, so we're going to pay $600 to $800 a day for four lift tickets.

The price of Spring Break has gone up.

You don't need badges. Tons of "showcases" that are free, look for those. What I used to do for bands that I really wanted to see , but you needed a badge, get there early and pay cash at the door, maybe $20. Haven't looked at the schedule, but Stubbs used to have some high-profile bands that you needed to get there extra early for.

Yeah , just park downtown and start walking. Have a general plan of who you want to see. It can get tricky when one band is playing in East Austin and the next band is playing downtown. Traffic will be a mess,some streets closed, so be ready.

But it's alot of fun. Weather is usually perfect....supposed to be 78 on Monday, so that's a good sign.

Don't forget the free shows at Auditorium Shores. Usually pretty fun and moderately attended (at least the handful I've been to).

210 said:

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I've lived in Austin a couple years but have never attended SXSW.

I'm not interested in purchasing any tickets but is it possible just to park downtown and stumble into events? What is the best way to experience the free shows/events? Just looking for any tips from the Austinites on the board.

I've got free downtown parking through work so figured the girlfriend and I would stumble around this weekend.

Also, saw this on reddit for some free events:
https://www.austin360.com/story/entertainment/2022/03/07/free-parties-drinks-food-sxsw-2022-austin-no-badge-required-rsvp/6846512001/

Thanks.

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SXSW is the best part of the year in Austin. You definitely do not need to pay a dime (other than maybe a cover charge to get into a bar) to see great music. 6th street will be the most packed it ever gets, but there are plenty of other venues and bars to see people perform.

A buddy of mine who does this every year recommended the following ig account to start, but he said mostly it's following individual bands Twitter accounts and ig for the underground shows.

https://instagr.am/p/Ca1PUxaOjG3

I have lived in Austin for 3 years. In 2019, I did not buy a SXSW badge, and I won't do it this year either. Like in 2019, I will go to the SXSW outdoor State at Lady Bird Lake on 3/17-3/19. The SXSW Outdoor Stage at Lady Bird Lake features a three-day series of charity beneficiary concert events, which are free and open to the public.

https://www.sxsw.com/festivals/music/outdoor-stage/

Have to prove vax to get in, weird flex for an outdoor venue.