As SXSW rolls by again, it’s the time of the year for Austin citizens deal with the visitors, traffic being worse than usual and of course, SXSW itself. Prices in Austin are increasing all the time and for SXSW it’s even worse. Events are more and more expensive each year and for many people it makes attending SXSW an exclusive, far off dream despite the fact it take place in our figurative backyard

For me personally, I used to take advantage of a lot of the free aspects and events that would roll around. The gaming expo for years was free to go into and it was honestly one of my favorite conventions. It was held in the Long Center up until last year, when it was moved to the Austin Convention Center. I assume that this is because of growth, but there are things they are changing that aren’t as acceptable.

For the gaming expo, admission was free, until this year, and I don’t understand that. Even if the tickets are $50 now because of the events growth, that doesn’t make sense. The event was free and continued that way for years, and it was sustainable. The only reason it changed was for profit.

It’s not just the gaming expo that is a problem. The concerts are even worse, with atrocities like: $300 tickets and $90 T-shirts. I understand that artists need to make a living, but it seems unrealistic. For now I will give SXSW the benefit of the doubt because artists deal with a lot of price haggling and nuisances.

The prices for admission to events has been blown out of a reasonable possibility for many people to even be able to go. A lot of people I know have told me stories that when they were growing up them and their parents didn’t have a lot of money, they would just hop the fence. While I don’t condone that, I do think that it is understandable. People who live in Austin deserve to hear cool music and do fun things and not just the outsiders with the huge wallets.

I am not the type of Austinite that complains about people coming to Austin for SXSW. They come to Austin for a good time so I’m not going to yell at them to leave. It isn’t them who are the problem, it’s the event itself that causes so many problems for our city.