April 01, 2020
SXSW 2020 Merch Goes on Sale
The massive annual festival of film, technology, music and more was canceled this year because of COVID-19, but organizers have nonetheless released 2020 festival branded merch.
Sadly, the show could not go on. The merch, however, could.
SXSW, the large festival celebrating cutting-edge music, film, technology and more that’s held annually in Austin, TX, had to be canceled this year because of the coronavirus outbreak. Having the anticipated hundreds of thousands of visitors come to Austin was too big a risk for spreading the terrible virus. The cancellation is estimated to have cost the Austin economy more than $350 million.
SXSW 2020 was supposed to have been held in March, but it had to be canceled because of COVID-19.
Nonetheless, SXSW merchandise is sought-after by both attendees and those who haven’t gone to the festival but like the brand. And on the merch front, organizers were able to make good, releasing official SXSW 2020 swag for sale in an online web store. Products include T-shirts, posters, sweatshirts, mugs, dad hats, socks and more. Here’s a sampling of what’s on offer:
While we missed sharing a 2020 event with y’all, we're happy to offer some great merch from various collaborations with incredible designers. #SXSW https://t.co/n6Y7CqpPfa
— SXSW (@sxsw) March 31, 2020
Designed by Mattson Creative, the three T-shirts shown in this tweet represent different facets of SXSW. The yellow/blue/green design is for film. The red/yellow/white is for music. The light blue/dark blue/gray/white design is for interactive.
Counselor has previously documented that promotional products professionals can work with event organizers to provide branded merchandise for attendees who would have come to a conference, trade show or other event that was canceled because of COVID-19. For more ideas on how promo distributors can navigate event cancellations, please head here.