Why Luminaria and SXSW are not the same
Yesterday Ben Olivo who writes the Downtown Blog for the Express-News posted an entry about why Luminaria shouldn’t aspire to become SXSW. It’s an interesting piece and highlights something that’s probably been brewing in a lot of people’s minds as the local arts festival grows in participation. I’ve even heard Mayor Castro mention the thought, though I think he’s really referring more to the creativity and celebration of the experience more than trying to overtake SXSW. I agree with Ben but maybe from a little bit different perspective.
Granted I’ve never been to Luminaria since it was conceived two years ago. You see I started attending SXSW Interactive when Luminaria launched and have been attending ever since. As a technology researcher at USAA it’s important for me to stay abreast of the latest technology trends and network with industry leaders regarding technology. SXSWi is probably one of my greatest finds for such an experience, being just right up the road. I can attend SXSWi for the cost of registration at some conferences around the nation. At 15,000 people and ten locations it’s technology overload.
But that’s just one facet of SXSW. There’s the Film Festival where many great films have launched and where film producers, both mainstream and indie, come to gather, share ideas, and network. This year Jake Gyllenhaa hit Austin to promote his new movie “Source Code” among other activities. Years past have had other notable film celebrities and hits grace the screens of Austin as the festival has grown.
Then there’s the granddaddy that started it all, the Music Festival. I can’t remember how many bands will be playing in venues throughout Austin but the number is pretty high. It’s what makes SXSW a great experience for people around the nation to come to the self-proclaimed Music Capitol of the World. To most people SXSW means music foremost.
So then why is there such a question? Apparently some want to see our local festival grow into a SXSW, maybe out of jealousy for our neighbor up the road for having such a successful event. Sure it’d be great from a business perspective to fill all the hotels, bars, and restaurants in the city but is that really what we’re trying to achieve with Luminaria?
As Olivo states “Luminaria is a showcase of mostly local artists, while SXSW showcases bands/movies/technology worldwide. As Luminaria grows, maybe it bends in the direction of more out-of-town artists, but it shouldn’t by much.” In my mind that’s really what you’re trying to accomplish with Luminaria, to showcase to all of San Antonio what our arts community is about and increase awareness of art in San Antonio.
Can Luminaria achieve what SXSW has done over the past 25 years? According to Rob Rubio in an article in the Express-News about Luminaria it appears the idea is floating. “We get compared with other events around the area that have been at it for 25, 30 years,” said Rubio. While that might be achievable it can only happen if you move the dates to some other period and not conflict with SXSW. Ask any SX attendee and there’s just no comparison nor desire to leave the Austin festival.
So let’s quit fooling ourselves and trying to become something not achievable. Keep building Luminaria and hope it raises arts awareness. But don’t go making out like a fool thinking you can draw away from SX. You’ll spend a lot of money and never see any results.
Good post. I love SXSW. There are two things that should never happen. It should never move from Austin – it just fits the whole Austin scene which is like no other in the state, and a comparable event in the state should not be held during the same time as the event. I think at this point it has been around way too long. A lot of people know what it is and enjoy it enough to keep coming back up. I read today in the AAS that the attendance rate has gone up by 30% over the past TWO years. It would definitely be hard to compete with. They have a lot of star power going for it. Austin in culture is as close to Hollywood more so than any other city in the state simply because it is so liberal. I don’t think it would or could have the same feel in places like San Antonio, Dallas, or even Houston. Unless Austin finds a way to screw it up like by not addressing the mass transportation issues, hotel addition issues, and etc to accommodate the increase in attendees, which could cause numbers to decrease, I don’t see any comparable event in the state held around the same time drawing the numbers and star power it has.
Believe it or not, something that is also going to put Austin and SXSW in the spotlight even more, making it harder to compete with, is going to be the Texas Longhorn Network being run by ESPN. I watched the press conference when they announced the deal for it, and not only will it show UT sports 24/7, but programming will also include academic and cultural events around UT and Austin. This channel is more than likely going to be in every home in TX w/cable as well as other surrounding states – that’s even more national exposure. The channel won’t be up until September I think, but I wouldn’t doubt that if it were up right now, that UT would be airing live events from SXSW in millions of homes to even viewers outside the state.