Apple, Inc. announced on Wednesday that the first iTunes Festival in the U.S. will be held at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, TX from March 11 to March 15.
The festival will feature artists such as Imagine Dragons, Coldplay, Pitbull, and many other known names, according to AFP.
The iTunes Festival will take place at Austin City Limits at the Moody Theater and will be available for free as a live and on-demand stream, Apple Press Info reported. Apple users will be able to stream the event through iPhones, iPod Touches, iPads, Macs, and PCs.
The performances will also be featured in the iTunes Festival app on iOS devices and with Apple TV.
As opposed to London's festival, which features a 30-day event, the U.S. festival will only last five days, according to ABC News. The event will feature different genres of music, including rock, hip-hop, country, and pop, as an international event for music, film and interactive projects.
Apple executive Eddy Cue stated his interest in the festival during an interview on Tuesday, ABC News reported.
"We're pretty excited about doing this for the first time here in the U.S. at South by Southwest," Cue said. "One of the cool things about trying to do the festival is that it's all about the music, the musicians and the fans. You want it in a really close atmosphere where the fans are getting to see the musicians in places they'll never see them again, because they play in much bigger venues."
Cue also said Apple has been looking for places to hold the U.S. version of the UK festival, and eventually found SXSW as the perfect spot, according to ABC News.
"It's got a great vibe for music, and it's centrally located, so timing-wise it works well to broadcast across the U.S.," Cue said.
Coldplay stated its excitement to be performing at the festival and that it was "thrilled" to be performing on the first night of the event.
"It's a great honor for our band and we hope everyone has a fantastic time," Coldplay said.
