SXSW 2026
Welcome back SXSW (South By Southwest)! The festival returns to Texas in March 2026 – the state of the USA where it began nearly 40 years go. And we will be there too, continuing our support for UK music internationally alongside around 500,000 other music lovers and industry insiders.
At SXSW 2026, here’s what we’re up to ...
- Selector Radio, hosted by Sian Eleri, returns to SXSW, ready to capture live music from the British Music Embassy stage at Palm Door on Sixth. Stand by for Selector Sessions and highlights on Selector Radio in the weeks and months ahead.
- We continue our support for Future Art and Culture – the innovative platform premiering major new work by artists, technologists and scientists that explore ideas about the human condition, society and the world around us.
- We continue our support for PRS Foundation’s International Showcase Fund, resulting in 21 UK music creators receiving support to attend SXSW this year. The International Showcase Fund supports UK artists taking their first steps into international territories at industry showcases, like SXSW, around the world.
Selector at SXSW 2026
Get ready for live UK music at SXSW and insights and highlights from the festival which we will share with you through our weekly Selector Radio show and our Selector Sessions on YouTube straight after the festival.
To make this happen, we’re teaming up with the British Music Embassy (BME) – in collaboration with BBC Introducing, UK record labels association the BPI, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and music licensing company, PPL. They’re once again set to take over the 700-capacity Palm Door venue on Sixth Street from 12 March to 19 March in the heart of downtown Austin.
‘The British Music Embassy is ever the vibrant hot spot at SXSW for catching the best of UK music talent. It's a vital catalyst for artists developing international profile, building audiences and creating a buzz as well as a meeting point for making international connections,’ says Joel Mills, Director of Music, here at the British Council. ‘Selector Radio, and presenter Sian Eleri, are once again collaborating with BBC Introducing to share hosting duties alongside Steve Lamacq throughout the weekend and we’ll be recording a SXSW Selector special show and filming Selector Sessions, so we can share the excitement with global audiences.’
Meet the artists set to appear.
Amie Blu
13 March 2026, 20.40 (CT)
Singer songwriter from London
‘Rich with honesty and unbridled emotion’ – Rolling Stone UK
Born of French heritage in South East London, Amie Blu took part in community projects as she grew up – ArtsTrain, Flames Collective – before hustling through music in jobs ranging from youth charities to A&R and publishing. She said: ‘In every job interview I was clear – I'm never gonna respond to anything else outside of my working hours because it’s not my priority. I'm gonna be an artist’. Having developed her sound across a string of early EPs, a turning point proved to be 2024 mixtape how we lose. Introspective but searingly honest, songs like ‘everything about her’ showed a poetic brand of realism and accomplished, alternative, soundscapes beyond her years.
Panic Shack
14 March 2026, 00.00 (CT)
Punk rock outfit from Cardiff
‘A fantastic sense of exuberance and an in your face unashamed pleasure in making bouncy punk pop’ – Louder Than War
Panic Shack are Sarah Harvey (vocals), Meg Fretwell (guitar/backing vocals), Romi Lawrence (guitar/backing vocals), Em Smith (bass) and Nick Doherty-Williams (drums) and they’ve had a busy few years. They’ve toured with Bob Vylan and Soft Play and appeared at many festivals including Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds, Green Man, End of the Road, SXSW and more, earning plaudits all over for their frenetic live show.
Kofi Stone
16 March 2026, 23.20 (CT)
Hiphop rap artist from Birmingham
‘Stone’s sincerity is met in equal measure by soothing melodies and soulful beats’ – HERO Magazine
Kofi Stone unveiled his highly anticipated All The Flowers Have Bloomed album in November 2025 featuring a stellar line up of features including Maverick Sabre, Ady Suleiman and Jacob Banks. With over 150 million streams across his catalogue, the UK rapper from Birmingham is known for his introspective lyrics and live wow factor.
Chalk
16 March 2026, 00.00 (CT)
Electronic duo from Belfast
‘With one foot in the mosh pit and the other in the rave, the Belfast duo lean into hybridity and maximalism in the name of unity’ – NME
Chalk’s full-length debut LP, Crystalpunk (ALTER Music), speaks directly to the upbringing and roots of the band members, both from Northern Ireland – vocalist and producer, Ross Cullen and multi-instrumentalist and director, Benedict Goddard. ‘This record is us waving a flag for that generation — the ones who inherited confusion, resilience, and a fractured sense of self.’ They’ve received the support and kudos of their peers, including Fontaines D.C., IDLES and Sprints, all of whom handpicked the band to support them throughout their tours. The beauty, confusion, complexity and intensity of their youth – lived under the shadow and around the scars of conflict – are entangled in their work.
Future Art and Culture
Future Art and Culture is an award-winning platform at SXSW for projects that use AI and immersive art to explore empathy and connection in the age of surveillance. We continue to support this year and have a cohort joining us, including people from Drake Music and Paraorchestra.
‘The Future Art and Culture programme once again champions a cohort of UK artists and creators working at the forefront of cross-disciplinary innovation to showcase, participate and network within SXSW’ says Joel Mills, Director of Music at the British Council.
The four AI and immersive creative projects to be premiered at SXSW are:
- The Baby Factory is Closed – puts users in the body of a menopausal woman and reclaims it as a site of rebellion
- Ascended Intelligence – a post-dystopian XR AI journey restoring human agency in the age of tech and surveillance
- loss y – an interactive multi-channel memorial to the loss of the physical body as we cross the threshold to a new reality
- Love Lost Hotline – immersive storytelling that invites connection, vulnerability and reflection.
International Showcase Fund
21 UK music creators will receive support to attend SXSW 2026 through PRS Foundation’s International Showcase Fund, run by PRS Foundation in partnership with Department for Business and Trade, Arts Council England, British Underground, Musicians' Union, Creative Scotland, PPL, Wales Arts International, Arts Council of Northern Ireland and us at the British Council. It offers vital and timely support for artists to take their first steps into international territories by enabling them to perform at key showcasing festivals and conferences.
The artists selected for International Showcase Fund support to attend SXSW this year represent some of the most exciting talent from across the UK making waves and in different genres, including the critically acclaimed and Welsh Music Prize winner, Gwenno, Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition 2024 winner, JayaHadADream and those that have already sold out shows recently such as Kofi Stone.
