Sound West Is the Australian-First SXSW-Style Technology and Music Fest Coming to Parramatta in 2022
The huge new event will combine a two-day conference at CommBank Stadium with three days of live music all around Greater Western Sydney.
If a trip to SXSW has always been on your bucket list, here's an alternative much closer to home: Australia's own — and first — huge five-day technology and music festival.
Called Sound West, the new event is headed to Sydney's west in early 2022, and will combine a two-day conference at CommBank Stadium with three days of live music events. Networking, workshops, mentoring, big tech brands and music industry leaders, performances by local, national and international talent — that's all on the bill.
Mark Wednesday, March 30–Sunday April 3 in your diary, as that's when Parramatta will play host to an event that's been three years in the making — after the team behind Sound West conceived of giving Greater Western Sydney its own landmark fest. The end result will take over venues large, small and unique, bring together the music and tech industries, and both recognise and develop the next generation of talent in the two fields.
Exactly what'll be on the entire lineup won't be revealed until February — which is when tickets will also go on sale — but Dylan Alcott OAM, L-Fresh The Lion, Khaled Rohaim and Serwah Attafuah will all pop up among Sound West's presenters and performers. Alcott will chat about his accessibility-focused music festival Ability Fest, L-Fresh The Lion will collaborate on a number of singer-songwriter initiatives, Rohaim will discuss his work with Rihanna, Ty Dolla $ign and The Kid Laroi (including working from his western Sydney bedroom), and Attafuah will cover her moves in the NFTs and their relevance to the music industry.
Khaled Rohaim
The program will also feature keynote addresses, panels, one-on-one sessions, live podcasting and interactive activations. SXSW has been known to get creative in the latter space, so fingers crossed that proves the same at Sound West.
And, brand-wise, plenty of big music and tech names will be represented, such as NEC Australia, TikTok, Shopify, Warner Music, Universal Music Australia, Live Nation, Apple Music, ARIA and APRA AMCOS.
"This region is going from strength to strength through industry development, investment in research and innovation, and a rich cultural foundation that makes for a dynamic city to live, work, visit and host events," said Stuart Ayres, NSW Minister for Tourism and Western Sydney, announcing the festival.
"Sound West is the first of its kind in Australia and will bring together brilliant minds, industry leaders and music enthusiasts to share ideas, network and enjoy the creativity of home-grown artists."
Sound West Technology and Music Festival will run from Wednesday, March 30–Sunday April 3, 2022, in Parramatta. The full event lineup will be revealed in February — we'll update you with further details then.
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