The 2023 Texas Tribune Festival in photos

Tribune co-founder Evan Smith meets backstage with U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, before the closing keynote at The Texas Tribune Festival in Austin on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. (Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune)

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The 2023 Texas Tribune Festival returned to downtown Austin for its 13th year. This year, we hosted nearly 300 speakers and over 125 sessions in three days, and brought big ideas about Texas politics and policy to attendees from all over the state and nation. Tribune photographers were there to capture moments on and off the stage. Here’s what they saw.

Texas Tribune CEO Sonal Shah, left, speaks with New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu backstage at the Paramount Theatre before Smith's one-on-one conversation with Sununu on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023. (Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune)

The audience watches the opening keynote of the Festival on Thursday. (Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune)

Shah hosts a lunchtime reception bringing together women shaping politics, business, technology and public policy in Texas on Thursday. (Credit: Stephen Spilllman for The Texas Tribune)

Artist Sean Allen, who goes by Aye!, paints in front of the Paramount Theatre during TribFest's Open Congress on Saturday. (Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune)

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner reacts to Smith announcing that Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson has switched from Democrat to Republican in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. (Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune)

Dave Weigel speaks one-on-one with Asa Hutchinson, former governor of Arkansas, about his race for the 2023 Republican presidential nomination on Saturday. (Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune)

A light switch in the Paramount Theatere is illuminated by light filtering through a slatted vent. (Credit: Julius Shieh/The Texas Tribune)

Dick DeGuerin, who was a prosecuting attorney in the impeachment trial of Attorney General Ken Paxton, embraces state Rep. Ann Johnson, D-Houston, a leader of the House impeachment managers, following her TribFest panel on Saturday. (Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune)

Production crews monitor a video stream while Texas Tribune political reporter Patrick Svitek speaks with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz about why he should be reelected to a third term. (Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune)

Harris County Commissioner Lesley Briones speaks at the “Locals Controlled” panel, a part of Open Congress on Saturday. (Credit: Greta Díaz González Vázquez/The Texas Tribune)

Audience members, including Texas Tribune Editor in Chief Sewell Chan, second from right, watch as Smith speaks with Manchin at the closing keynote of the Festival on Saturday. (Credit: Julius Shieh/The Texas Tribune)

Festival-goers at Open Congress on Saturday. (Credit: Stephen Spillman for The Texas Tribune)

Attendees gather at a student breakfast at the Festival on Saturday. (Credit: Jasmine DeFoore for The Texas Tribune)

Bart Barber, the President of the Southern Baptist Convention, sports a pair of cowboy boots on Friday. (Credit: Julius Shieh/The Texas Tribune)

Shah, right, speaks with journalist Katie Couric, center, at the Austin Club on Friday. (Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune)

Festival-goers at the Visit Fort Worth tent during Open Congress on Saturday. (Credit: Stephen Spillman for The Texas Tribune)

Journalism professor Kathleen McElroy speaks with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones about confronting racial injustice on Saturday. (Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune)

People walk outside of the Paramount Theatre during Open Congress on Saturday. (Credit: Greta Díaz González Vázquez/The Texas Tribune)

Rusty Hardin, who was a prosecuting attorney in the impeachment trial of Attorney General Ken Paxton, speaks with Johnson following her one-on-one panel on Saturday. (Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune)

Camera crews record a panel titled "Confronting America’s Opioid Crisis: The Next Steps We Need" on Open Congress Saturday. (Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune)

A venue security guard takes a rest between panels on Friday. (Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune)

Shah, right, and Tribune chief operating officer Natalie Choate tour the event space at Troublemaker Studios for TribFeast on Friday. (Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune)

Texas Tribune Festival attendees listen to a panel on Open Congress Saturday with the state capitol in the background. (Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune)

Smith speaks Manchin in the closing keynote at the Paramount Theatre on Saturday. (Credit: Julius Shieh/The Texas Tribune)

Attendees gather at Open Congress on Saturday. (Credit: Stephen Spillman for The Texas Tribune)

Dolores Huerta signs copies of the book "50 Years of Ms.: The Best of the Pathfinding Magazine that Ignited a Revolution" at the Festival on Friday. (Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune)

Manchin in the closing keynote on Saturday. (Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune)

TribFest-goers file out of the Paramount Theatre following the closing keynote on Saturday. (Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune)

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As The Texas Tribune's signature event of the year, The Texas Tribune Festival brings Texans closer to politics, policy and the day’s news from Texas and beyond. On Sept. 23, we wrapped our 2023 Festival — three lively days packed with 125+ sessions and events. Browse on-demand recordings and catch up on the biggest headlines from Festival events at the Tribune’s Festival news page.