AUSTIN, Texas — Thousands of people from all over the world are traveling to Austin for South By Southwest (SXSW), and the expected economic boost from the yearly festival has local businesses excited.
Pitmaster and meat cutter Carson Dickey at Micklethwait Craft Meats BBQ in East Austin is excited for the amount of people coming into town.
"Weekends we get pretty packed starting Friday," Dickey said. "People will get in from the airport ... What is it, like 300,000 people? So that number right there kind of says it all."
Dickey expects business to be very good over the next week.
Another popular spot will be Austin's airport.
"I am coming from London," Z Tennyson, a filmmaker and cinematographer who flew into Austin on Thursday, told KVUE. "I am here for the film festival, but you know, I like the music. I like [the] energy this time of the year now."
SXSW is expected to bring in more money for Austin's economy than last year, when it brought in $380 million. That includes everything from sales at the hotels, to the restaurants excited about the business boost.
"Got another kitchen down the way, got another two of these guys ... So we are full constantly, trying to keep up with demand of everyone coming in," Dickey said.