SXSWist: Festival News, Artist Interviews, Giveaways, Party Listings and More!

Image by Justin Cox

Because we love you so very much, we've gone ahead and put together a special mini-site dedicated to this year's SXSW Festival.

In it, you can easily get up to speed on all of our latest artist interviews, showcase and party previews, and festival news. We're also collecting all of the fancy artwork from showcases and parties, some of which are stunning.

What's more, you'll still be able to plan out your beer route from among our curated picks--we've teamed up with FreeYrRadio to provide this service, which combines a nifty GoogleMaps mashup with a database of events that we think you outta check out. In the next few days, we'll be adding many more to these listings, but there's certainly enough to whet your appetite.

For some of the more in-demand events, like the Playboy Rock the Rabbit afterparty featuring Justice/MGMT/Moby, we've arranged guestlist giveaways that you'll also be able to find on SXSWist.

Lastly, one of the things we're trying out this year is a new SMS service, also hosted by FreeYrRadio. Several times a day throughout the festival, we'll be broadcasting text message bulletins like the hypothetical examples below:

"The Beast House is providing a free catered breakfast all week long from 10-1, and it's delicious!"

"Come to the free Austinist party today at The Mohawk. Show this text at the door for a free tote bag!"

The service will only keep your number until Saturday, March 15, and will not be used after the festival. You can also sign up to receive notices from our friends at Gorilla Vs Bear, Venus Zine, BrooklynVegan, Done Waiting, and YRSXSW.

Check it out here, and feel free to direct any hot tips, comments, or suggestions to SXSWist@austinist.com.

[SXSWist]