Another edition of the South by Southwest festival has taken over Austin, Texas, and CBC Radio 3 is covering the music, film and technology celebration in earnest. Lana Gay is one of the R3 crew on the SXSW beat and she'll offer up periodic reports about the goings-on down in Austin.

Buck 65 and Jenn Grant perform at the Canadian Blast BBQ in Austin, part of the South by Southwest festival, on Wednesday. (Connie Tsang/CBC Radio 3)

This year SXSW celebrates its 25th anniversary. Though it was hard to find success in Austin in 1986, musicians and artists flocked to the city because it was an affordable place to live and to be creative. Four of those creative individuals started a small festival that, surprisingly, grew to be one of the largest and most important music events in the world.

Today, SXSW brings in tens of thousands of people, but in 1986 the festival began with just 700 attendees. So how did it all happen? Why Austin? Alan Berg, director of Outside Industry: The Story of SXSW, explains to CBC Radio 3.

A host of Canadian acts have also travelled to Texas for the festival, including Buck 65, Jenn Grant and Karkwa -- just a few of the performers who took the stage in Austin's Brush Square for the Canadian Blast BBQ on Wednesday. Check out Toronto-based photographer Connie Tsang's images from the show.