SXSW is ending its partnerships with the U.S. Army and defense contractors after pro-Palestine protests this year. “After careful consideration, we are revising our sponsorship model,” the festival said after opening applications for 2025. “As a result, the U.S. Army, and companies who engage in weapons manufacturing, will not be sponsors of SXSW 2025.”

More than 60 artists and participants boycotted this year’s festival over SXSW’s ties to defense groups that supply Israeli weapons in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. The U.S. Army was a “super-sponsor” of the 2024 festival, and Collins Aerospace, a company under defense conglomerate RTX Corporation (f.k.a. Raytheon), also participated. “A music festival should not include war profiteers,” said Squirrel Flower, one of the first artists to boycott. “I refuse to be complicit in this and withdraw my art and labor in protest.”