SXSW Trivia Questions

The name 'South by Southwest' is a deliberate play on Hitchcock's film 'North by Northwest,' referencing Austin's geographic location in the U.S. Southwest.

SXSW started as a music festival in 1987; the film and interactive components were added later, with the film festival first held in 1994.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognizes SXSW as a qualifying festival for the Short Film categories, meaning winning films can be entered for Oscar consideration.

SXSW was founded by Roland Swenson, Louis Meyers, Nick Barbaro, and others involved in the Austin music scene, not by Willie Nelson.

SXSW is exclusively held in Austin, Texas, with no permanent satellite location in Las Vegas. (A separate SXSW Sydney event began in 2023, but not Las Vegas.)

SXSW 2020 was officially canceled on March 6, 2020, because of public health concerns over the COVID-19 outbreak, the first cancellation in its history.

The music festival began in 1987; Interactive was launched as a separate track in 1994, making it younger than the music component.

Barack Obama delivered a keynote at SXSW Interactive in March 2016, marking the first time a sitting U.S. president addressed the festival.