South by Southwest (SXSW) brings thousands of people to Austin every year and this year marked the 28th anniversary for the event.  This March, many people arrived for the interactive, film, and music aspect of the festival.
The event occurred on the week of March 7-16; The Interactive sessions happened from March 7-11, the film showings went from March 7-15 and the music concerts took place on March 11-16.

 
The music concerts of the festival bring the most people to hang out with friends and listen to live music downtown.  This year popular bands like Coldplay, Kendrick Lamar, Capital Cities, Pitbull, Keith Urban, Willie Nelson, and many others.
“It was crowded, but the people were energetic and I had the time of my life,” sophomore Josephine McCarthy said.

 
Many students have heard about the car crash that happened on the morning of March 13.  Three people were tragically killed and 23 innocent people were injured.  The 21-year-old driver, Rashad Charjuan Owens, was charged with capital murder, which is the highest offense in the state of Texas.  This makes Owens eligible for the death penalty.  A $3 million dollar bond was set up.
“I heard about the crash on the news, but I didn’t see it in person,” McCarthy said.

 
The badges are sold starting in August until the week of the festival.  Although, the prices of the badges increase every month leading up to the week.

 
During January, a Platinum badge costs $1595, a Gold badge costs $1395, a Music badge costs $750, a film badge costs $625, and an interactive badge costs $1195.  SXSW also offers some free concerts.

 
Some students were given the chance to volunteer at the sessions and concerts.  Junior Mackenzie Salter worked for ten hours a day for five days.  Prior to the festival, she had ten hours of meetings during a month time period.

 
“I ran the green room where panelists checked in,” Salter said.  “I checked them in and then when they had to go on I would either call a runner or take them backstage myself.  We also had to fold a lot of place cards.”

 
The Interactive aspect of SXSW consisted of sessions from informational presentations to book signings.  Audio and video recordings from 2013 are available on sxsw.com for anyone who missed out on seeing them live.

 
This year was the first year iTunes held their own festival of a five-day concert series within SXSW.  A raffle took place to see which SXSW badge holders would be able to see the exclusive concerts.  The winners were allowed a plus one as long as that person had a badge as well.

 
The iTunes festival had several rules and regulations.  According to sxsw.com, each person must be 18 years old, only one vote is allowed per person, no one was allowed to leave the venue and return later, and a small bag check occurred in order to enter the concert.

 
Next year SXSW will take place on the week of March 16-21.  Registration will begin in early August and it is suggested to register early for the best selection of events.