Voices of SXSW: How ‘Adult Spring Break’ Helps Keep Austin Weird

Cynthia Littleton
·2 min read

The guests on this week’s episode of Variety podcast “Strictly Business” are about two dozen people I conversed with last week while attending the SXSW conference and festival in Austin, Texas. They are in fact leaders in media and entertainment. As sophisticated and highly engaged consumers, their choices can make or break a streaming platform, a movie, a TV franchise, a tour or an album.

I love the spirit of SXSW because it is a gathering that involves so many disciplines — even more than I knew. The weather in Austin was sunny for most of March 10-19 gathering, and so was the mood. Festival-goers making the rounds of downtown were only too eager to stop and talk to Variety about why they wanted to come to SXSW and what impressed them this year.

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“Not only do we get to see fellow musicians, artists and creators, but also you get to see you get to meet with industry experts,” said Victoria Henderson of Detroit, who records with her husband, Bruce Henderson, under the moniker Bourgeoisie Paper Jam.

True Austin locals were unfailingly friendly and generous. My interview with Rebecca, Nicki and Debbie, three retired public school teachers, was conducted while riding the rails on the CapMetro rail line that heads north from downtown Austin station a few feet from the convention center. Other people stopped for me inside the convention center and outside in the heart of the foot traffic. I’ve done many interviews in many settings, but my brief chat captured here with college student Bria is the first time I’ve spoken to anyone who was wearing a vagina costume.

“It’s a character. This is Veronica the vulva,” she explained.

From first-timers to veterans, there was a lot of love expressed for the SXSW festival and what it brings to the region, as you’ll here. Important disclosure: SXSW was acquired by Variety’s parent company, PMC, in 2021. But I can’t emphasize enough how much these interview subjects were chosen at random as a bopped around Austin for five days.

The format of this episode is in keeping with fan-focused interviews I conducted for special Strictly Business installments produced out of the Vidcon conference in Anaheim, Calif. last June and the K-Con gathering last August in downtown Los Angeles. I never fail to learn a lot about how media and pop culture are changing than by talking directly with the most fervent consumers of both.

“Strictly Business” is Variety’s weekly podcast featuring conversations with industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. New episodes debut every Wednesday and can be downloaded on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Play, Stitcher, SoundCloud and more.

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