South by Southwest, the international festival and conference for music, film and interactive endeavors in Austin, Tex., is reaching out to potential Hawaii attendees with a series of SXSW Meet ‘n’ Greet events in Hawaii.

The free sessions next month will be hosted by SXSW’s Australian-based Pacific representative Phil Tripp.

Next year’s SXSW takes place March 9 to 18. Registration for delegates begins Aug. 1. More than 80,000 delegates are expected in 2018, from more than 60 countries. Submissions for musical artists to showcase, films to be screened and interactive awards are open now.

“We want to open SXSW more to the rich variety of talent from the islands — musical and digital, film and TV,” Tripp said. “These meetings include both invited veterans and potential first-timers.”

Hawaii sent more than 40 delegates to the festival in 2017. Participating organizations have included the Hawaii International Film Festival, Hawaiian Electric Co., Kamehameha Schools and eHawaii.gov.

Musicians representing Hawaii have included The Green, Jake Shimabukuro, Anuhea, John Cruz, Mike Love, Hapa, Irie Love, Pimpbot and David Tamaoka. Pow! Wow! Hawaii artists also traveled to Austin in recent years, creating murals at the festival.

Meetings take place 6 p.m. Aug. 7 at Box Jelly, 307-A Kamani St.; 5:30 p.m. Aug. 14 at the University of Hawaii-Maui College; 6 p.m. Aug. 16 at the Naniloa Grand Hotel, Hilo; 6 p.m. Aug. 21 at the Sheraton Keahou Kona Resort; and 6 p.m. Aug. 24 at the Kauai Beach Resort.

Reservations are required. RSVP by email to tripp@sxsw.com, online at fb.com/sxsw.hawaii or call (512) 669-3321. Find out more about South by Southwest at sxsw.com.