For the first time in the festival's 30 year history, a sitting president and first lady will participate in the South By Southwest (SXSW) events.
Both President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama have been announced as keynote speakers over the course of the festival.
On Friday March 11th, President Obama will sit down with Evan Smith, CEO / Editor in Chief of The Texas Tribune, for a conversation about civic engagement in the 21st Century before an audience of creators, early adopters and entrepreneurs who are defining the future of our connected lives.
On Wednesday March 16th, First Lady Michelle Obama will to discuss the Let Girls Learn initiative, which aims to break barriers for the 62 million girls around the world who are not in school today, more than half of whom are adolescent.
Co-founder of the festival Roland Swenson said: “I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate our event’s 30th year than to welcome both the President and First Lady to SXSW. As each new generation comes up at SXSW they look for ways they can be of service, and it’s important to reflect and support that message. President and Mrs. Obama’s visit here will inspire attendees to that purpose.”
This year's SXSW festival will focus on Interactive Media from March 11th to 15th, Movies from the 11th to the 19th, and Music from the 15th to the 20th.
More details regarding location, time, streaming, and access to both events will be announced via the SXSW website in the coming days.
