SXSW has investigated charges to improve the event for 2015 in light of the deaths caused by a driver ploughing into the crowd, killing four this year and leaving 21 injured.
Investigations are underway to determine how best to control the massive crowds that spread across the city, especially on the Friday and Saturday nights of the event.
Sixth Street, Austin, the main stretch of the Texan city, is closed to traffic on the peak nights of SXSW but congestion from the number of events in the small area has become out of control.
SXSW has asked the City of Austin to more strictly monitor the number of permits approved during the event by pop-up events and is working with marketing companies to relieve in in your face product placement caused by companies like Dorito’s and Pepsi while the music events are taking place.
In the past decade, SXSW has grown from a music industry event to a general public circus. In the last few years the music industry has been smothered by public events with general public activity and unofficial events now making the industry event cluttered with unofficial showcases, obtrusive marketing campaigns and general onlooking flocking to the city to be part of the spectacle but not the convention.
SXSW released the following statement to Billboard:
We’ve been careful not to say anything that implies we’re trying to ban unofficial events because, even if we could, we wouldn’t try to do that. We totally get that unofficial events are part of the appeal of SXSW, though the line between “official” and “unofficial” can be hard to distinguish.
The Populous report is their expert assessment and opinion, not ours, and we agree with most of it, but not all of it. In our own statements we’ve been careful not to imply a threat to relocate SXSW, and have also explicitly stated that is not our position numerous times.
What we’re asking the City to do is put a limit on the number of permits issued for events that require temporary permits, based on location, capacity and infrastructure. The City did that for the first time this past year, and we think it was a common sense move that should be a standard procedure. Parts of 6th Street are severely overcrowded and can’t support more pop-up events. The majority of the unofficial events are in existing businesses and this would not affect them.
The most important part of what we’re asking for is a comprehensive safety plan that will include not just SXSW events, but every other significant activity downtown during our event. Marketing companies are fond of the tactic of keeping everything a secret until the last minute to avoid scrutiny. SXSW, the unofficial events, and the City all need transparency in order to plan for safety properly.
ink to the Populous Executive Summary – http://sxsw.com/report
