Idris Elba, Tems And Deepak Chopra Among First Wave Of Speakers And Performers For SXSW London
Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Written by Jon Stickler
South By Southwest festival has announced the first wave of headline speakers and music partners for its inaugural UK event.
Taking place between June 2 and 7 across venues, galleries and clubs in East London's Shoreditch area, the event will mark the first time the festival has taken place in Europe, having built a legacy over nearly 40 years in Austin, Texas.
Londoner Idris Elba has been announced as one of the headline conference speakers. He'll also appear across the festival showcasing his various music, documentary and philanthropic projects.
Other speakers include wellness guru Deepak Chopra, plus stars from sport and entertainment such as James Vowles (Team Principal of Williams Racing), author fitness coach and entrepreneur Joe Wicks, and comedian Katherine Ryan. Grammy-winner Wyclef Jean will also discuss charitable work and use of new technology in composing music.
There will be conference appearances from Alex Hirschi (Founder and Creator of Supercar Blondie), Ben Lamm (co-founder and CEO of Colossal Biosciences), Callum "Callux" McGinley (founder and creator of The notwoways and After Party Studios) and artist and electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre.
Confirmed as the festival's first music headliner is Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and producer Tems, who will take to the stage at Troxy on June 5 as part of an expansion of Billboard's THE STAGE at SXSW concert series.
BBC Introducing, the BRIT School and Abbey Road Studios will be co-curating musical showcases throughout the six days. Other music partners co-curating stages across the festival include BBC Asian Network, Black Lives In Music, as well as Clash, Crack, Notion, TRENCH and The Line of Best Fit magazines, City Splash Festival, Dankie Sounds, HÖR Berlin, Keep Hush, Mahogany, Seoul Community Radio, Shubbak Festival, and The Blues Project.
SXSW London's Screen Festival will present the first UK film retrospective of Grammy-winning artist and filmmaker Jenn Nkiru, including the London premiere of her latest work, The Great North.
Further conference, music and screen headliners will be announced in the coming weeks. For more details and ticket information, head to the SXSW London website.
Expecting to attract over 20,000 attendees and generate more than £75 million for the UK economy, SXSW London follows South By Southwest's first expansion into Sydney, Australia in 2023. The second instalment of that offshoot took place last October.
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