The University of Texas brought the longhorn spirit with its Hook ‘Em House exhibition during the first two days of South by Southwest.

Located at Antone’s Nightclub in Downtown Austin, the exhibit featured expert panels, entrepreneurs, live music and more.

The Texas Longhorn band, pom squad, cheerleaders and Texas Cowboys paraded from the Austin Convention Center to Antone’s Friday morning to kick off the festival. 

The Texas Cowboys, the student organization that maintains Smokey the Cannon, led the parade donned in their signature burnt orange.

“I would say, simply put, we brought the spirit and we showed our Longhorn pride,” said Clayton Bouwhuis, Texas Cowboy and finance student.

He said he is proud to be able to represent UT while attending such a crowd-reaching event.

“Being in Texas Cowboys and being invited out here to South by Southwest is such an honor and privilege,” Bouwhuis said. “Just the scale of this alone is insane. So many people are flying in. I met a guy from the United Kingdom and other people from Europe and from Mexico. I mean, it just speaks volumes to the impact and what we’ve got going on here. So it’s really a privilege to be out here.”

Later in the day, UTalent Records artist Nicholas Challier performed live at Antone’s. 

Challier told TSTV News Feb. 12 that when he arrived here on exchange from London he heard about UTalent Records and decided to audition for fun. After auditioning and getting signed, he formed an amazing team that helps support and find him gigs for performances.

While musical performances were a big part of the Hook ‘Em House exhibit, Texas sports was another large attraction. 

For all the Texas football fans, former quarterback Colt McCoy spoke on a panel with other Longhorn legends, reflecting on his years at Texas and how it equipped him for a 14-season career in the NFL.

On Saturday, in conjunction with International Women’s Day, the founder of Snoopslimes, Jungmin Kang, spoke at a panel exploring how she got to where she is today.

Beginning her career at 13 years old and now amassing more than nine million followers on various platforms, Kang is grateful that the money her parents invested in her dream years ago has exploded into a thriving business with numerous employees.

“I had to figure out how I was going to market this product with only $200, so that’s when social media came into life,” Kang said. “I started off with the platform Instagram, where every single day after school I would post consistently of myself playing with slime and showcasing ASMR of my products. My tripod was literally made out of toilet paper rolls.”

Fast-forward to today, and she’s a human dimensions of organizations sophomore continuing the Snoopslimes business with the help of her team.

Towards the end of the day, Brooke Michelle, another UTalent Records artist, performed live. 

She told TSTV News Jan. 29 that she has come a long way as an artist. From performing at little league games as a child to performing the National Anthem at the Texas vs. Texas A&M volleyball game, it has been a huge full-circle moment for her to get to where she is today.

“UTalent has just been so amazing,” Michelle said. “I’m so glad that I finally tried out this year.”