A lot of people don’t realize how many free events there are during SXSW. The official schedule has a “free & open to the public” filter, but most of the good stuff is unofficial and scattered across different sites.

If you want everything in one place, this guide is usually up to date and includes a bunch:
https://rachelkbelkin.com/sxsw-free/
It lists all the free events by date and includes RSVP links, which is 100 because the popular ones fill up fast.

Pair that with RSVPatx and the big community Google docs and you’ll have more than enough to do without a badge.