Reports of the demise of South by Southwest’s music element seem to have been exaggerated, with SXSW organizers clarifying that while next year’s event will be shorter, its music presence will not be diminished.

A spokesperson for SXSW confirmed that the festival is reconfiguring as the Austin Convention Center is set to shut down for renovation. As such, SXSW 2026 will be two days shorter, cutting into what has traditionally been the festival’s music-focused second weekend. (Since 1987, a music conference with four days of programming has taken place on Wednesday through Saturday.) But next year’s event will feature an additional night of music, melding into SXSW’s film and television programming.

“We are really excited about the plans for SXSW 2026” a SXSW spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter. “With the Austin Convention Center closing down for three years, we believe it’s a great opportunity to put new ideas into action.”

With the convention center unavailable, the festival will take place at various locations around Austin.

The news comes just after the end of the 2025 edition of SXSW, which wrapped Saturday. Participation in the music festival has reportedly been dropping since the 2010s, when the average band count peaked at around 2,000. This year’s edition reportedly saw 1,012 bands showcasing.

Penske Media, the owner of The Hollywood Reporter, invested in SXSW in April 2021 as part of what it described as a long-term partnership with the festival.

In recent years, the film and television festival has become a bigger part of SXSW, this year drawing the likes of Michelle Obama (who recorded a podcast with her brother, college basketball coach Craig Robinson) and Chelsea Clinton. Nicole Kidman, Paul Rudd, Blake Lively, Anna Kendrick, Issa Rae, Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal and Seth Rogen were among the stars on hand at the premieres of their respective film and TV projects.

Meanwhile, musical artists playing this year’s event included John Fogerty, Tom Morello, Benson Boone, Khalid, Larkin Poe, Koe Wetzel, George Birge, Ashley Cooke, Brittney Spencer, Aiko, Big Freedia and Jurassic 5 rapper Soup.

The Austin American-Statesman noted that “country breakout Megan Moroney and Latin pop up-and-comer Ivan Cornejo played fine sets, but they failed to fill the cavernous concert hall ACL Live, even with a free public RSVP.”

Local music journalist Andy Langer, a veteran of the festival since its launch in 1987, wrote in a much-shared Facebook post, “For years, it’s been impossible not to notice how parking woes, hotel prices, traffic etc. drop off considerably when SXSW Music begins. The town empties out considerably the Wednesday AM after tech/film ends.”

Meanwhile, PMC is growing SXSW’s presence around the world. The company expanded to Australia in 2023 and heads to London for the first time in June.

This story has been updated to clarify the music plans for SXSW 2026.

This story was first published on March 16 at 11:11 p.m.