SXSW Sydney will be a great many things, according to the festival's head of screen content, Ghita Loebenstein.
"If you're not mainlining FOMO then you're not doing it right," she told AAP.
SXSW was born in Austin, Texas almost four decades ago and the Sydney event is the first international city to host the global brand.
It's a screen festival, a music festival, a futurist and tech conference all at once, explains Loebenstein, who says work is needed before Sydney understands the nature of the event.
"You launch a new product into the market, you have to do some audience or user education," she told AAP.
But the city has a bursting calendar of festivals already, with the Sydney Festival, the grassroots Sydney Fringe, a recent World Pride, a biennale and countless other film festivals and events.
"South By" as Loebenstein calls it, is not trying to push aside smaller festivals.
"I personally think there's a place for everyone and all things," she said.
"I don't see that South By will be pushing out anything that is already existing."
So are would-be punters going to shell out $195 - $330 for a wristband to access the screen, games or music programs, or close to $1900 for an industry badge?
And if they do, is this cash that might have gone to grassroots cultural events instead?
Not everything requires platinum access though, with publicly accessible brand activations and free music events at Tumbalong Park.
Individual $25 tickets are also available for the film program just before screenings start.
The film slate opens with The Royal Hotel, a thriller starring Julia Garner and Jessica Henwick as American backpackers stuck in remote Australia.
Then there's the world premiere of Against All Odds, the story of Sydney drill rap pioneers ONEFOUR, and Emerald Fennell's Saltburn starring Australian actor Jacob Elordi, among more than 100 film, television and XR offerings.
The conference content is designed for industry participants with headliners including Chance the Rapper and Charlie Brooker of Black Mirror fame.
There are "mini" conferences too covering creative industry areas such as branding, marketing and the environment, said Loebenstein.
It's an opportunity for inspiration, provocation and networking, with career-changing connections made just standing in line to buy coffee, she said.
Loebenstein disagrees it's been difficult to launch the SXSW juggernaut in Sydney, describing it more as a "healthy challenge".
SXSW is on from Sunday till October 22.
Arts SXSW
