Greetings from Southwest Audiofest 2024 in Dallas

An audio present is born. It is the inaugural Southwest Audiofest (SWAF) happening on March 15-17 in Dallas, Texas on the Hilton Anatole lodge.

By audio present requirements, it’s small. With roughly 50 rooms, you’ll be able to demo all of the programs over the course of its three-day run. However, the present is organized by the identical staff that places on the Capital Audiofest and Pacific Audiofest, which means there’s expertise and a confirmed observe document behind this new present.

I attended Capital Audiofest again in November 2023. There’s quite a bit in frequent when it comes to the exhibitor checklist and likewise the final structure, which incorporates pop-up document and accent purchasing in an enormous, open atrium foyer. The primary distinction between Dallas and D.C. is the lodge is bigger regardless that the present itself is smaller.

Scouting the structure previous to the present opening, I observed a welcome letter to attendees. It introduced subsequent 12 months’s even, on the identical location, scheduled to happen between March twenty first and twenty third. It guarantees there can be extra rooms in addition to the incorporation of extra way of life and residential theater merchandise. It additionally mentions a deal with bringing in households and associates of audiophiles, not simply the devoted fans. Certainly, this Texas-sized Hilton Hotel has room to develop if it succeeds.

I personally really feel that whereas North America does not essentially want extra audio reveals, there stays a niche among the many prime tier reveals that was left by the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest when it bowed out. It can be attention-grabbing to see how this present evolves and if it has what it takes to develop into a serious Texas-sized occasion.