SXSW 2027 Shifts Film Premieres from Paramount Theatre to ACL Live, Adds Podcast Festival
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- SXSW announced the Paramount Theatre will be out for its 2027 edition due to construction, with film premieres and red carpets moving to ACL Live before returning to the Paramount in 2028.
- The Paramount typically hosts all of the festival's biggest Headliners-section premieres and serves as its unofficial center, while SXSW also screens at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar and Zach Theater.
- SXSW will launch a new podcast festival (March 17-21, 2027) featuring live tapings and conversations with podcast industry leaders, standing as a new pillar alongside its tech, film, music, and comedy festivals.
- The Austin Convention Center closed for redevelopment in late 2025, already forcing the 2026 festival to spread programming across the city, with the venue expected to reopen in time for the 2029 edition.
- Greg Rosenbaum, SVP of programming at SXSW, said 2027 PanelPicker submissions and Music and Film & TV festival applications are up by as much as 50 percent following 2026's format evolution.
- SXSW 2027 runs March 15-21 in Austin, Texas, with badges currently on sale.
Why it matters: SXSW will operate without its two anchor venues for the second year running, with film premieres at ACL Live and panels scattered citywide as the convention center rebuilds through 2029. The 50% spike in submissions suggests demand is holding despite the logistics, but the podcast festival becomes the test case for whether SXSW can incubate a new format pillar while its signature spaces sit dark.
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