Australian experiences on show at SXSW festival in Austin

21 March 2018

Thousands of visitors to the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas last week were able to experience the inaugural AUSTRALIAHouse as part of Australia’s ongoing G’Day USA activities.

Tourism Australia collaborated with Austrade and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on AUSTRALIAHouse which presented the very best of Australian tourism, innovation, film, music, food and wine.

Tourism Australia Managing Director John O’Sullivan said the SXSW theme exploring ‘what next’ presented the perfect opportunity to pitch Australia to young American travellers.

Program highlights at AUSTRALIAHouse included:

• Friends of Australia Curtis Stone and Matt Moran showcased the best of Australian food and wine
• ‘In Conversation with Hugh Jackman’ and a week-long pop-up of his Laughing Man Café
• performances by top Australian bands and DJs
• Talks from influential Australians in science, film, the arts and other industries
• Large LED screens throughout the venue showed Tourism Australia’s campaign assets across the entire week

Additionally a ‘Field of Light’ themed light art installation was curated for the garden of AUSTRALIAHouse as well as a Dundee photo booth with props from the film so guests could upload their best Dundee impersonations to Instagram.