3/21/07
Readers of the Austinist just can’t seem to get enough SXSW bashing. If you checked out the local sounding board recently, then you’ve likely seen the hubbub over the shut-down of many large unofficial SXSW parties the past week. Biggest among the closures by the AFD were the Vice and IHEARTCOMIX parties, but other events throughout the city were stopped as well.
Readers are having a field day speculating over SXSW having the parties shut down, despite the reason being that the sponsors had failed to apply for a permit needed as of last fall that requires any organized gathering of 49 or more people to have an official stamp. The permit was apparently passed originally to deal with out of control frat parties, but, in an apparent execution of non-discrimination, have been applied to hipster parties as well.
With the hipsterati calling for an investigation and Factory People having filed for the release of documents “detailing the communications between SXSW, The City Council, The City of Austin, the Fire Department, and Lt. James Hoad of the Austin Fire Department,” it seems that trouble may be brewing. Finally today, a (hopefully) official reply was made by SXSW’s Roland Swenson, which reads as follows:
From my imperial position I noticed that this is a pretty amazing document in that there are really only two completely true statements. :
#1 “Ultimately, FactoryPeople didn’t obtain the permits and we accept full responsibility”
We have to wonder how you’ve lived in Austin all this time and were unaware of how many times the Austin Fire Department has cracked down on venues at all times of the year and have shut down or delayed SXSW shows. The first thing SXSW does when we get a new venue for a show or party is find out if the Fire Department is going to let us have an event there, and how many people we can admit. The assembly permit is not new. You ask “Would we have known about this new ordinance if we had been in communication with the Fire Department?” It’s a stunning admission that you didn’t even bother to check on what permits are required by the Fire Marshals to hold a safe, public, advertised event.
#2 “Someone compiled the list of parties.”
Yes, the Austinist, Done Waiting, Showlist, the Austin American Statesman and numerous other blogs worked overtime compiling lists, maps, schedules of as many parties as they could. When are these bloggers going to take some responsibility for all the times they wrote “the free parties give away beer” which put these parties on the radar of the same agencies who scrupulously monitor SXSW events?
You make reference to “well-documented efforts on [SXSW's] behalf to shut down private parties and alternative SXSW events were carried out by the Fire Marshal as far back as 1994.” Please name one “well- documented effort” and cite your supporting evidence.
When this accusation started spreading this week we looked into it and could only find seven parties that were affected out of the literally hundreds held last week. Four parties shut down early due to lack of load cards and fire inspections. One party shut down because part of a balcony collapsed. Two parties ended at 2am instead of their advertised 4am end times. Maybe there were more, but we don’t know because we were a little busy last week with our own event.
But consider this: if “SXSW has sustained a reputation for being imperial and difficult to deal with for years” why would we have waited until 2007 to close down events we supposedly don’t like? If we have this much power, and wanted to shut down parties, then why would we have stopped at seven?
Come to think of it, your first statement isn’t really completely true. Factory People posted this to blame SXSW, not to take responsibility for their mistakes. Having looked at the long list of corporate sponsors on the Factory People website (Including Yaris-SXSW!!) I understand your need to find a way placate the sponsors who lost a lot of money on your party.
Roland Swenson, SXSW
Oh well, let the fireworks fly.
