Swedish festival Way Out West is offering fans a chance to obtain a ticket – in exchange for a kidney – ahead of its sold out edition this coming weekend.
Relax. This doesn’t mean that punters will have to go through the extraction before being given a wristband. It merely means that they have to join the Swedish National Organ Donation Registry in exchange for a chance to win a three-day pass. Any kidneys (or other organs) will only be given up much later, after the festival goer has shuffled off this mortal coil.
The festival explained the initiative on its website, saying: “This year, tickets to Way Out West sold out earlier than ever. With no tickets left, the FOMO kicks in hard. People start saying they’d give up just about anything to get one.
“By joining (the donation registry), you’re not just saying you’d give a kidney for a ticket, you’re showing you truly support organ donation,” it continues. “By being willing to donate your organs after your death, you are taking an action could save a life in the future.”
This is Way Out West 2025 so far! Many more artists will be added to this poster before we open up the gates in Slottsskogen on August 7. ––> https://t.co/iUf3bFVXtC pic.twitter.com/vx5qM0YNpxMarch 18, 2025
This year’s Way Out West line-up includes Chappell Roan, Charli XCX, Pet Shop Boys, Queens Of The Stone Age, Little Simz and Iggy Pop. So if you are at a loose end this weekend, happen to be in Sweden and fancy seeing that little lot in exchange for becoming an organ donor head over to the festival’s website. You do have to be over 18 and have a Swedish social security number, mind you.
Way Out West does have a reputation for off-the-wall ideas. Last year, it set up an IVF laboratory that saw music from the festival piped in - apparently music and vibrations increase the chance of IVF success by around five per cent.
