SXSW Sydney 2024 has opened its doors for panel and speaker submissions, as well as applications for its Games, Music & Screen Festivals.

The inaugural SXSW Sydney event featured 1,178 sessions and events, attracting over 287,000 attendees from 41 countries. Sydney is the only city outside of Austin, Texas, to host SXSW, positioning it as a global centre for creativity in the Asia-Pacific region.

SXSW Sydney 2024 will feature 23 Conference tracks, including new ones for the Creator Economy, Cyber & Your Data, Education & Skills, Fashion, Lifestyle & Beauty, and Food. SXSW Sydney's Session Select process allows the community and a team of Conference advisors to choose who features at the event. Submissions are also open for innovative, abstract, genre-defying feature films, shorts, games, solo projects, music videos and episodic works for the Games, Music and Screen Festivals.

"I believe that the only future we can make is the one that we can imagine,” said best-selling author, Rohit Bhargava, who spoke at last year's event.

This sentiment is echoed by Colin Daniels, SXSW Sydney’s Managing Director.

“Session Select is the spark for the SXSW Sydney Conference. It is how our brilliant creative community sets the agenda with their ideas for the conversations and stimulating content that shapes the conference. I am so excited to see and hear what our global thought leaders come up with for the second SXSW Sydney," he said.

Daniels further encouraged artists and creatives in the Music, Screen and Games industries to submit their work for the SXSW Sydney Festivals showcase and screenings line-up.

“For artists and creatives... their submission... is the first step to having their work revealed and announced to the wider international world of early discoverers, tastemakers and industry champions that flock to SXSW Sydney. Don’t hesitate to make that submission and be on the path to achieving your global artistic and creative goals," he said.

SXSW Sydney is also accepting applications for fiction and non-fiction projects that use virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR).

SXSW Sydney 2024 will take place from 14 – 20 October 2024 in NSW, Australia. The event contributed over $1 billion to the local economy and features on a calendar full of cultural events including Mardi Gras, Sydney Festival and Vivid Sydney.