The Swedish city of Gothenburg might not be an obvious location for a world-beating music festival, but those who are in the know say otherwise.
Way Out West has been going since 2007. Back then, it was a smaller affair. These days, it attracts 35,000 people daily and is a massive date in the Swedish music calendar: the it-crowd from Stockholm all head down (Stockholm has repeatedly tried and failed to set up its own festival), as well as politicians, celebs and music-lovers from around Europe.
Quelle surprise. The Swedes know what they’re doing; the festival is certainly one of the best-organised I’ve ever been to, and possibly one with the best line-up I’ve seen this year, too.
A bill featuring Charli xcx, Chappell Roan, the Pet Shop Boys and Queens of the Stone Age, all crammed into three days? Oh, and shall we add in a sprinkling of Fontaines D.C, Little Simz and Lola Young? Yes please. Even better for UK travellers, it runs Thursday-Saturday, leaving Sunday free to get back to the airport.
The festival space itself is well thought-out. It takes place in Gothenburg’s leafy, central Slottskogen park, which in summer is bursting with greenery and ornamental lakes, around which the festival has been built.
There are five stages total: Dungen, on the lake, which is built for electronic music (the sunny afternoon set from Chloé Caillet was the place to be on Sunday). There’s Linné, a giant tent of a place next to another lake, where controversial Irish rap trio Kneecap kicked things off with a barnstorming hour on Friday to a slightly bemused, if enthusiastic, crowd of Swedes. “What’s the craic, Gothenburg,” Mo Chara yelled at one point. “That’s a big crowd for our debut in Sweden!”
There’s the Höjden stage: a short trek up a hill and hidden away from the rest of the crowds, where CMAT worked her magic with a characteristically excellent performance on Friday. And then there’s Azalea and Flamingo, the two giant stages, which face each other across a massive central space.
Though it sounds counterintuitive, it’s actually genius – because it means the festival organisers can have multiple big-name acts play these alternating stages one after the other, removing the tiresome process of making people wait between sets.
It was here (specifically on Flamingo) that Charli xcx played her headline slot on Friday night, to a packed crowd. Almost a home crowd: “I wrote this song in Sweden,” she declared of Apple, to cheers. Plus, of course, she closed the set out with I Love It, the mega-hit she wrote for Swedish duo Icona Pop, which had everybody screaming.
For those with time on their hands (things only really got going in the late afternoon), Gothenburg itself was waiting to be explored, too. The city is something of an overlooked gem: most people heading to Sweden will opt for Stockholm, but Gothenburg has charms of its own. Namely, that it is a foodie hotspot, as well as a second-hand shopping one.
Tens of well-curated charity shops dot the city centre selling Scandi brands, while spots like the Feskekörka (literally, fish church) and the old market hall serve up Michelin-quality food, much of it, unsurprisingly, fish. This was good, as the festival’s food quality did tend to vary somewhat: in keeping with the festival’s no-meat ethos, the Chef’s Corner served up excellent veggie dishes like paneer curry, whilst the ‘dirty fries’ were very much to be avoided.
Mooching around the city’s old Haga district, and the spaces beyond, was a welcome change from all the hustle and bustle – but of course, we were there to party.
Way Out West delivered and then some. There was Bicep’s excellent Chroma DJ set on Friday, which turned the Linné stage into a carnival of strobing lights. After the festival site itself shut at midnight, the party continued at Stay Out West, with artists like HAAi and The Dare playing monster sets in venues around the city. The Hotel Clarion Draken, where we stayed, was a mere 20-minute walk away from the festival – and thankfully right next to some of these venues, making dropping in the work of a moment.
Things closed out, of course, with Chappell Roan’s Saturday night headliner, which saw the stage transformed into a medieval-style castle (complete with attendants dressed like monks mopping rain off the runway), and Roan dressed as a fairy princess.
True to form, she delivered 90 minutes of excellence (and all the hits) before closing with a massive singalong of Pink Pony Club. It was a moment of pure euphoria and one that closed the festival on a high: how long until Way Out West 2026 again?
Way Out West returns for August 13-15, 2026. Find out more here
