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Every year, SXSW is one of the most anticipated cultural events in the country, but if you weren’t able to snatch a coveted ticket to Austin this year, there’s another festival coming in March that has its eyes set on becoming New York City’s very own South by Southwest.
The New Colossus Festival, which is happening from March 6-10—roughly the same dates as the Austin festival—focuses on providing a platform for new artists, including international bands making their NYC debuts. Although there will be similarities between The New Colossus and SXSW, the New York festival hopes to have a more egalitarian focus, eschewing headliners altogether. Plus, it focuses solely on music (not film and media).
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The New Colossus Festival has been going on since 2019, but took a hiatus during the pandemic, so it still has a new kid on the block feel. The festival hopes to continue to introduce New York, and the U.S. more broadly, to up-and-coming talent that could go on to do big things. Since their inception, the festival has platformed musicians like the Pom Pom Squad, Maria BC, THICK, Sobs and others that went on to become well-respected players in the scene.
What’s also great about this festival is that it’s fully leaning into its New York roots: The festival’s name is a nod to the sonnet featured on the Statue of Liberty, which greeted people from all over the world and is a beacon of the city’s openness to new ideas and creativity.
The festival will take place across multiple venues mostly spread throughout the Lower East Side and the East Village, including Bowery Electric, Mercury Lounge, Berlin, Heaven Can Wait, and others. This year’s artists include Cucamaras (UK), Ducks LTD (Canada), Heffner (US), Holiday Ghosts (UK), Hotel Lux (UK), Housewife (Canada), and more. You can check out the full lineup and schedule of events here.
If you want to know what you’re getting into before you go or maybe even memorize a few lyrics so you can sing along, the festival curated a Spotify playlist of some of the artists playing this year.
You can get tickets to individual concerts or buy the Festival “badge” for $150, which includes priority access to all the shows, panel discussions and parties throughout the course of the festival; you can get them here. For $250, there's a “pro” level badge that includes access to networking mixers, merch, special discounts at select local restaurants, and more.