The 38th annual South by Southwest took over Austin, Texas, from March 7-15. Ahead of the festival, event professionals told Vendelux that they were interested to see how brands would show up amid tighter budgets, upticks in participation costs and the event’s overall “identity crisis.”
The speculation came with a shakeup in SXSW’s programming on the horizon because its hub, the Austin Convention Center, is due to get a $1.6 billion facelift that will see it closing in April—and not reopening until SXSW 2029, according to local ABC affiliate KVUE. The project, dubbed “Unconventional ATX,” will nearly double the venue’s square footage, from 365,000 to 620,000, and add open-air terraces, public outdoor plazas and “indoor-outdoor connections” that will maximize natural light, KVUE reported.
Thus, in its final year taking place at the existing Austin Convention Center, here’s a roundup of the SXSW activations that caught Vendelux’s eye—at the convention center, in the Rainey District and beyond, in no particular order…
The Blumhouse ScreamBox
Blumhouse Productions, known for its horrifying flicks like Paranormal Activity, The Purge, M3GAN and The Black Phone, celebrated its 15th anniversary at SXSW with an unassuming black box just outside the Austin Convention Center. Here, attendees—which included Kevin Bacon—stepped into the ScreamBox to freely let out their most horrific scream.
The noise-cancelling box was built with technology that then ranked the blood-curtling screams based on decibels. Each day, the most earth-shattering shriek was given a prize, and the singular guest with the loudest scream of the entire fest was awarded tickets to an upcoming Blumhouse premiere in Los Angeles.
FX’s Alien: Earth Pop-Up
In anticipation of FX’s upcoming Alien: Earth, which is set to be released on Hulu this summer, the Disney-owned TV channel crash-landed at SXSW—literally—with an over-the-top activation where fans visited the site of a space wreck. From March 7-8, SXSW attendees embarked on an immersive, exploratory mission through the wreckage, coming in contact with alien specimens and new clues—not to mention exclusive merch and fun photo ops—along their journey.
(FX tapped Los Angeles-based creative tech studio VTProDesign to bring the activation to life.)
The Whataburger Museum of Art
Whataburger’s first-ever activation at SXSW celebrated its 75th year serving up its signature, two-handed burgers. Dubbed the Whataburger Museum of Art (WMOA), the event took on an art-gallery format, showcasing 200-plus pieces of fan-made, Whataburger-themed art. Aside from drawn, painted and digitally created works of art, there was a motorcycle decked out in the fast food giant’s iconic orange hues, a skateboard painted to represent the burger joint and even a set of on-theme acrylic nails.
The experience was spearheaded by Whataburger’s longtime public relations agency, McGarrah Jessee, which originally created plans for an IRL WMOA gallery back in 2020, though those plans were halted due to the pandemic. The brand pivoted, featuring fan art via Instagram, according to QSR Magazine, which serves the quick-service restaurant industry. Five years after the concept’s inception, SXSW 2025—also a milestone anniversary year for the chain—proved to be the perfect stage for the first-ever, physical WMOA.
Create & Cultivate’s Future Summit
On March 9, female-focused community Create & Cultivate returned to SXSW for the 2025 edition of its Future Summit presented by Chase Ink. Per usual, the free, one-day event featured panels of inspiring women, including Half Baked founder Tieghan Gerard, Tone It Up co-founder Karena Dawn and supermodel and entrepreneur Ashley Graham, who served as the event’s keynote speaker.
Curated workshops and networking opportunities were facilitated by delicious food and drink, leaning on the brand’s manifesto to bring together best-in-class female entrepreneurs, experts and creators. It all went down at Austin’s Assembly Hall.
Paramount+’s The Lodge
Paramount+ returned to SXSW with its activation, The Lodge, from March 7-10 after seeing wild success at past SXSWs. This year, the streaming giant took over Clive Bar in Rainey District to pull off a three-story activation that invited guests to explore popular series including Yellowjackets, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Survivor, just to name a few, plus Happy Face, a new series on the block, as well as movies like Gladiator II.
Different corners of the venue were each decked out to immerse guests in different worlds—and take photos to remember the experience by. The area dedicated to Yellowjackets, for example, featured a snow lodge-style space complete with snow shoes and an adirondack chair made out of skis while the School Spirits space was home to a bar that (fittingly) exclusively served up non-alcoholic beverages.
Dubai’s Museum of the Future
For five days during SXSW 2025, the Dubai Future Foundation took over Austin’s Museum of the Future to showcase all there is to love about Dubai. Here, attendees explored Refik Anadol’s newest AI installation, Earth Dreams—which included immersive, 360-degree LED displays—plus enjoyed live panel discussions and played Dubai’s forward-thinking spin on “Cards Against Humanity,” which it dubbed “Leaders for Humanity.”
The moment that caught everyone’s attention (and taste buds), though: a sampling of the ultra-viral Dubai chocolate.
Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Trucks
Speaking of sweet treats, Vermont-based ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s teamed up with American electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian to create two “scoop trucks” that made their debut at SXSW.
The electric, next-gen ice cream trucks were built using Rivian Commercial Vans wrapped with Ben & Jerry’s iconic branding, according to a press release. Following the trucks’ jaunt around Austin in honor of SXSW, they will hit the road across the US.
