SXSW Interactive, the tech component of Austin, Texas’ famous annual festival, is one of the best known events in the startup industry.

While the Irish have for years had a strong presence at SXSW – like that time in 2012 when Glen Hansard serenaded a crowded room with “The Parting Glass” – this year’s festival is going to have the strongest Irish presence yet.

The key Irish events during SXSW, which runs from March 11 – 15, include a storytelling session and a traditional Irish wake, complete with whiskey and Irish tunes, for failed startups.

The main events are run by the office of the Dublin Commissioner for Startups as part of their “Dublin Makes Me" series.

Dublin Makes Me, which will launch at SXSW, is an international event series that will celebrate Dublin as a city of creativity and innovation.

As Niamh Bushnell, the Dublin Commissioner for Startups, explained "Dublin has it all, attitude, charisma, creativity, history. And through our recent boom, bust and then recovery Dublin has become a global tech city. People now come here from all over the world to make stuff happen and Dublin Makes Me is a celebration of that. We're putting Dublin on the innovation map."

Dublin Makes Me events kick off on Friday, March 11 with "Dublin Made Me", a storytelling event with renowned Dublin characters, live music and drinks. Throughout the day on Saturday, March 12 the Commissioner's office will be holding "Meet the Commish" office hours to introduce SXSW delegates to the Dublin tech ecosystem and schedule visits to Dublin, and The Irish Startup Wake, a wake for failed startups takes place on Sunday, March 13.

The Wake, which will include a book of condolences, ham sandwiches, whiskey, singing, and insights from both leaders in the tech field and people removed from it, will center on the concept of learning from past failures and not viewing setbacks as ends but rather as something to come back stronger from – just like Beckett’s famous “fail better” line, a favorite for Silicon Valley, says.

Further Dublin Makes Me events are planned for Berlin and San Francisco later this year.

To learn more, visit the Dublin Makes Me website.