Overview Billboard Presents THE STAGE at SXSW is Billboard's three-night concert series inside SXSW in Austin, one headliner a night at Moody Amphitheater in Waterloo Park, and in 2025 its headliners John Summit, Grupo Frontera and Koe Wetzel also fronted the covers of Billboard's SXSW issue. The bill moves across Latin, EDM, hip-hop and country, with opening acts under each headliner, and a Billboard LIVE After Party takes the night on to a DJ set. Billboard first brought THE STAGE to SXSW in 2022 and has since taken it on the road as a global series. In 2026 Billboard's parent, Penske Media Corporation, was the majority shareholder of SXSW. On site The shows run Friday through Sunday, and Billboard's deck puts each night's capacity above 5,600. Around the amphitheater, activations sit in the high-traffic ground of Waterloo Park and along Red River Street: VIP lounges and viewing areas, express entry lanes, sampling, photo builds and merch giveaways. The after party is a smaller room, 200 to 400 fans, badge holders and VIPs. Off the concert site, Billboard has run a branded content house with Samsung Galaxy, custom dinners with talent and daytime parties, including a Smirnoff pickleball party for festival-goers 21 and over. Audience The crowd is SXSW badge holders and Austin fans moving between the festival's venues all day, and branded pedicabs for Samsung, Meta and Carnival have shuttled them between THE STAGE and other SXSW events. The lines are long enough that Delta's SkyMiles express lane gave out more than 1,800 wristbands over three days. Talent and Influencers Before John Summit, Grupo Frontera and Koe Wetzel in 2025, THE STAGE had booked PartyNextDoor, Christian Nodal, Illenium, Kx5 (Kaskade and deadmau5), Lil Yachty, Feid, Eladio Carrion, Shawn Mendes, Sebastian Yatra and Kygo. Majo Aguilar also played in 2025, and the after parties have carried DJ Pee .Wee, Anderson .Paak's DJ alter ego, and KSHMR. Track record Billboard counted 12 artist performances and more than 12,400 attendees across the 2025 series, with 3.8 billion press impressions, 102 earned media placements, 40 million video views and 92 million social impressions. Doritos After Dark, the after party with DJ Pee .Wee, drew more than 440 people with a line out the door, and 90% of surveyed guests said they would definitely attend another Doritos activation. Smirnoff's pickleball party drew 850-plus players and handed out more than 1,600 samples. Brand presence A presenting partner takes one night: its logo on the main stage and on the DJ booth between sets, its video on the screens, an opening act curated for the brand, a branded VIP section and a roughly 10-by-20 activation for all three nights. Supporting partners run an 8-by-8 footprint across the weekend, and the after party can be taken over outright. Carnival gave away more than 2,500 light sticks, ice pops and koozies at THE STAGE, and McDonald's parked a breakfast food truck outside the shows. Official partners also get SXSW badges and a listing in the official SXSW app.