The HUE Beauty and Natural Hair Affair (Hair Unites Everyone), the first natural hair event for women of color during SXSW, will be returning this year after the festival was canceled in 2020 and only held virtually in 2021.
A child company of Natural Partners in Crime, HUE was created to help bring smaller hair and beauty businesses to the forefront on a grand scale. The event started in New York City in 2018 and quickly built momentum over the years until it was able to branch out to other cities, Austin being one of them.
Since its SXSW debut, over 5,000 attendees have visited this celebration, enjoying live music, hair demos, freebies, and more. This year’s attendees will also experience multiple interactive activations.
HUE Affair has been a highly anticipated event during SXSW, which is why this year is such a bittersweet one. I spoke with Sabrina Boissiere, the creator of NPIC and HUE Affair. This is what she had to say.
I am glad to return. I have to honestly say HUE 2020 was going to be the last year we did Austin, and we had to cancel a week before we were supposed to do the event. I don’t like to end things on other people’s terms. So I wanted to make sure that we returned and closed out this chapter of HUE. Then not being able to do it in 2021 was also a bummer because honestly, who thought the pandemic would last that long, but I really wanted to make sure that when we did come back it was in a safe environment, and the community was ready for HUE to return in all its glory.
We are so excited to have so many amazing local brands participate, and when I say local, I mean from the state of Texas, and we are truly honored to have SheaMoisture back as the “Powered By” sponsor. This year, they are really re-engaging with the natural hair community. So it’s great to see them back as well!
The final HUE Affair will be held on Saturday, March 19 at the Carver Museum, from 12 pm-5 pm. The first 200 women in line will receive a swag bag with full-sized products valued at over $100! To purchase tickets and for all the event’s details visit the website.
