Almost 115 artists pulled out of the SXSW festival in Austin, TX last week in protest of the festival’s sponsorship by the U.S Army and the inclusion of several defense contractors in panels. 

Musicians and speakers withdrew from the festival in droves, citing solidarity with Palestine because of the use of weapons made by RTX (formerly Raytheon), Collins Aerospace and BAE Systems in the Israel-Palestine conflict, all companies who were present at the festival. 

The designation of the U.S Army as a ‘super sponsor’ was also a controversial topic, due to their support of Israel in the ongoing conflict as the number of artist withdrawals snowballed throughout the nine day festival. 

“The Austin for Palestine Coalition started an email chain to SXSW demanding that they disinvite the weapons manufacturers”, said a senior member of the coalition who asked to remain anonymous. 

“Squirrel Flower was the first artist to officially pull out on social media and that was a huge moment for us”, they added. 

Once the Boston based artist announced her withdrawal, the floodgates opened with more and more pulling out through the week, including over 60 British and all 12 Irish acts that had been booked. 

“Artists just started following in Squirrel Flower’s footsteps and repeating the same reasons, they don’t believe a music festival should have anything to do with war, they don’t want to be associated with it and they stand in solidarity with Palestinians.” 

“It was amazing that so many artists were able to take a principled stance like that, it was sort of a callback to the old Austin, the real Austin that’s about art and culture and not tech based and concerned about profiting from war,” they concluded. 

The festival themselves neglected to comment on the withdrawals until Governor Greg Abbott posted on X: “Bands pull out of SXSW over U.S Army sponsorship. Bye. Don’t Come Back.” 

SXSW organizers responded that they did not agree with the Governor and that they respected the right of all the artists to exercise their freedom of expression, but that the defense industry was often at the forefront of technological advancements and it was better to understand how their approach affects everyday life. 

Even if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not at the forefront of conversation by next year’s festival, this controversy may still negatively affect SXSW’s image in future editions according to Texas Monthly culture writer, Dan Solomon. 

 “I think the biggest question is how much artists who are weighing up whether it's worth the time, expense and hassle of getting to Austin next March have kind of a sour taste in their mouths because of this, and that tips them against participating”, he said. 

“Assuming the conditions that led to the pull-outs this year aren't still in effect, then I think it'll be more of an issue of whether artists think SXSW is just a little less relevant to them and their goals, and this might be a part of that calculus, but I don't know that it'll drive that,” he added. 

Regardless of the geopolitical situation in the Middle-East this time next year, the sheer scale of the boycott and negative publicity around it for the festival is sure to prompt a rethink of the nature of sponsorships and panels in the years to come.