South by SouthWest Music 2011

As you are aware South by Southwest Music 2011 is fast approaching and once again Belfast City Council, in partnership with FFWDNI and the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure will be supporting the event through a main music showcase, presence at the conference and exhibition and business to business networking events between the 14 and 20 March 2011.



As per previous years, it is imperative that business development is the key focus of our attendance and once again, we are keen to help provide some support for music businesses from Belfast to attend.

The SXSW® Music and Media Conference celebrates its 25th Anniversary in 2011. Reaching a quarter of a century of being the biggest and most anticipated convergence of all things music, SXSW is ready to keep the reputation alive by programming the best event yet.

By day, thousands of conference registrants network in the halls of the Austin Convention Center on their way to do business in the SXSW® Trade Show, sit in on informative panel discussions featuring some of the industry's key players, gain insight from legendary keynote speakers or plan out their abundant party schedules.

At night, SXSW showcases hundreds upon hundreds of musical acts from around the globe on over eighty stages in downtown Austin. All this and so much more, combine to make SXSW one of the most revered music events, year after year.

We are working alongside FFWDNI this year to help support businesses attend and the total number of places available will be limited to a maximum of 15 delegates. Six of these will be supported directly through FFWDNI and details can be found at http://www.ffwdni.com/marketing. Belfast City Council will be supporting an additional nine companies to attend pending the confirmation of additional funding.



If you are interested in attending, you can download an application form from www.belfastcity.gov.uk/sxsw. Please return completed forms by no later than 12.00noon on Friday, 19 November 2010.



We will confirm whether financial support will be available to your company by 30th November 2010.



For further information on SXSW 2011, please visit: http://sxsw.com/music or contact Brendan McGoran, Creative Industries Officer, Belfast City Council at mcgoranb@belfastcity.gov.uk



This is a competitive process and all applications received will be scored based on the information provided, following our procurement procedures.



I hope you find this of use to you and I look forward to hearing from you soon.