Will SideHustle LIVE be at SXSW 2027?

Q: Will SideHustle® LIVE be at SXSW 2027?

SXSW 2027 runs March 12-22 in Austin. PanelPicker submissions open June 23, 2026. SideHustle LIVE is preparing a submission, with the comedy game show format positioned for the festival's interactive and entrepreneurship tracks.

The story

SXSW is the biggest tent in Austin for what SideHustle does. The festival sits exactly at the intersection of tech, culture, and live entertainment, which is the same intersection where the SideHustle format lives. The PanelPicker process is the gate. It opens June 23, 2026 and runs through summer. Submissions go up for public voting, then through editorial review. The festival historically favors formats that are both interactive and content-rich. A live comedy game show with audience-pulled teams pitching gloriously fake ideas on Funny + Fundable scoring fits cleanly in that pocket. Austin is already SideHustle's home base. The 7th SideHustle brand anniversary celebration show on Sept 25, 2026 is the warmup (the SideHustle brand launched via Kickstarter on Sept 24, 2019, making 2026 the 7-year brand anniversary). SXSW the following March is the moment the format gets in front of the broader founder, investor, and creator population that converges on the city for those 10 days.

What it means

SXSW is a destination event with a brutal selection process. The smart play is to prepare the submission early, build supporting evidence between now and June 2026, and treat the public voting window as an audience-engagement moment rather than a popularity contest. If you want to vote for the SideHustle LIVE submission when it goes up, the easiest way to stay in the loop is the email list at team@playsidehustle.com. For the full primer on the show, read what is SideHustle LIVE: the complete guide.

Try it

• Play free at playsidehustle.com
• See us live: Sept 25 at Pershing Hall in Austin. luma.com/playsidehustle
• Book a 15-min call: playsidehustle.com/call

Ready to bring SideHustle LIVE to your team?

Nametag networking does not pull people out anymore. SideHustle LIVE drops in as a 60 to 90 minute headline experience that gets your whole room playing, laughing, and actually connecting. Book a 15-minute call to check dates and see if your event fits: corporate offsites, conferences, sales kickoffs, and private founder nights.