Headed to Austin for SXSW?

Well, consider me envious. The sprawling festival somehow stays right on top of the music, film and new media/tech scenes, and it’s hosted by one of the country’s favorite smaller cities to boot. Just in case you haven’t already got your every minute mapped out, I’ve rounded up some last-minute recommendations and ideas.

The SXSW Insider’s Guide has a hot thread debating the year’s must-see bands (and hey, some of the posters even give helpful rationales/context for their picks), while the Screengrab bloggers offer their picks for must-see documentaries (parts one and two) and narrative feature films.

And—most importantly!—there’s plenty of foodie scoop to be had, too: Travellious has a round-up of cheap eats in Austin, Chowhound’s Austin board is always hopping (read up on the best mac and cheese or most authentic Mexican torta in town, for instance), and Yelp has a best-of page devoted entirely to the city’s food stands.

Over on the interactive side of things, be sure to wave hello to our own World Hum editors, and to contributor Pam Mandel.

Finally, I can’t speak to the torta situation myself, and I certainly won’t claim to know all 1400 bands slated to play, but I can recommend Toronto’s K’Naan, a Somali-born rapper who’ll be performing in an Afropunk showcase. Here’s his first big hit, “Soobax”:

©2026 World Hum, All Rights Reserved