Way Out West is a three-day music and film festival held annually in Slottsskogen, a large city park in the heart of Gothenburg, Sweden. Founded in 2007 and organized by Luger, it draws approximately 30,000 attendees per day with a multi-genre lineup spanning indie, electronic, hip-hop, rock, and pop. The festival is fully vegetarian and runs a nighttime club program called Stay Out West across venues in central Gothenburg.
The official Way Out West YouTube channel documents each edition with aftermovies and full performance clips. The 2023 aftermovie captures the festival across Slottsskogen and Stay Out West venues, featuring headliners Blur, Hakan Hellstrom, and Wizkid alongside boygenius, Tove Lo, AURORA, Sam Fender, and over 80 additional artists:
How Way Out West Works
Way Out West runs Thursday through Saturday in mid-August. The 2026 edition takes place August 13 to 15 and marks the festival's 18th year. The main festival site is Slottsskogen park, walkable from much of central Gothenburg, with trams and buses providing easy access. At night, Stay Out West takes over clubs and venues across the city center with late-night DJ sets and live performances.
Key operational details:
- Stages and Programming: The main festival features several stages within Slottsskogen plus the Stay Out West club venues. The 2026 edition has 99 confirmed artists. Headliners include The Cure, Gorillaz, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Lorde, and The xx. Other notable acts include Moby, Zara Larsson, Blood Orange, Four Tet, Dijon, Anna von Hausswolff, Oklou, The Hives, Lykke Li, Wilco, Ezra Collective, Maribou State, Anoushka Shankar, Earl Sweatshirt, Clipse, Honey Dijon, Celeste, Jehnny Beth, The Alchemist, COBRAH, and Thaiboy Digital. Programming spans indie, electronic, hip-hop, rock, pop, and experimental genres.
- Film and Culture: Way Out West includes a film festival component running alongside the music program, with film premieres and screenings. The festival also features art installations and a carefully curated food program.
- Sustainability and Food: Sustainability has been a central focus since the festival launched in 2007. The entire food program is vegetarian, with offerings described as on par with the music lineup in terms of curation. Environmental and social responsibility are integrated into event operations.
- Ticketing: Three-day standard tickets cost 3,495 SEK (approximately $340). One-day standard tickets cost 1,895 SEK. VIP three-day tickets cost 5,495 SEK. Youth (under 18) one-day tickets cost 1,195 SEK. Student three-day tickets cost 2,795 SEK with valid student ID. For the 2026 edition, Friday and Saturday are completely sold out. Thursday tickets remain available. Tickets are sold through Ticketmaster.
Real-World Example: Way Out West 2026
The 2026 edition runs August 13 to 15 with 99 artists confirmed. The lineup reflects the festival's mix of global stars, leftfield innovators, and Scandinavian talent. Thursday features The xx, Moby, Zara Larsson, Clipse, Earl Sweatshirt, COBRAH, Oklou, and Jehnny Beth. Friday features The Cure, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Hives, Blood Orange, Lykke Li, Four Tet, Dijon, and Honey Dijon. Saturday features Gorillaz, Lorde, Wilco, Ezra Collective, Maribou State, Anoushka Shankar, and Celeste.
Past editions have hosted Prince, Kendrick Lamar, Charli XCX, Erykah Badu, Florence + The Machine, Neil Young, Fred again.., Tame Impala, Alicia Keys, Chappell Roan, Frank Ocean, Robyn, Patti Smith, and Solange. The festival's 18-year history has established it as one of Europe's most respected mid-size festivals, known for booking a mix of legacy headliners and emerging talent within an urban, walkable setting.
The Stay Out West program extends each festival night into the early hours across multiple Gothenburg venues. This gives attendees access to intimate club sets from festival artists and exclusive DJ bookings that are not part of the main Slottsskogen program.
Notable Past Headliners
Way Out West has booked a mix of legacy headliners, global stars, and Scandinavian talent across its 18-year history. Here is a look at headliners from recent editions:
| Year | Thursday Headliner | Friday Headliner | Saturday Headliner |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | The xx | The Cure | Gorillaz |
| 2025 | Charli XCX | Fontaines D.C. | Chappell Roan |
| 2024 | Pulp | Fred again.. | Jack White |
| 2023 | Hakan Hellstrom | Blur | Wizkid |
| 2022 | Tame Impala | The Cure | The National |
The festival's past lineups also include Prince, Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, Neil Young, Alicia Keys, Stormzy, Frank Ocean, Robyn, Patti Smith, Solange, Florence + The Machine, Charli XCX, Erykah Badu, and Fred again.. The 2024 edition marked Pulp's first Way Out West appearance, while Fred again.. brought his emotional club sound to a headline slot on the Friday night. The 2023 edition was headlined by Blur on their reunion tour, Swedish icon Hakan Hellstrom, and Nigerian star Wizkid, who brought Afrobeats to the Slottsskogen main stage for the first time.
The 2025 edition ran August 7 to 9 with approximately 55,000 attendees across three days. Charli XCX headlined Thursday on the back of her Brat album cycle, while Fontaines D.C. and Chappell Roan rounded out the headline slots. Iggy Pop also appeared on the 2025 bill, bringing a legacy rock presence to the multi-genre lineup. The festival confirmed that 2026 would return to Slottsskogen August 13 to 15, with The Cure, Gorillaz, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Lorde, and The xx among the first announced headliners.
Why It Matters for Independent Artists
Way Out West programs across all genres and career stages. The festival's talent team actively books emerging Scandinavian and international acts alongside major headliners. The Stay Out West club program creates additional slots for smaller artists and DJs, making the festival accessible to acts that might not be ready for a main stage slot.
If you want to get booked:
- Build a strong live reputation in Scandinavia. Way Out West bookers track artists selling out small venues in Gothenburg, Stockholm, and Copenhagen.
- Work with a booking agent who has relationships with Luger's talent team. Most slots are filled through agent submissions rather than open applications.
- The Stay Out West program is more accessible than the main stages. DJs and electronic producers with a strong SoundCloud or Boiler Room presence have a realistic path to a Stay Out West slot.
- Use our Streaming Royalty Calculator to track streaming growth, as festival bookers increasingly look at streaming data when evaluating emerging acts.
Read our music festival strategy guide for a deeper dive on getting booked at European festivals.
Related Resources
- Music Festivals Directory - Explore other European and international festivals
- Streaming Royalty Calculator - Track streaming growth that attracts festival bookings
- Tour Revenue Calculator - Plan your European festival tour budget
- Music Festival Strategy: Get Booked and Make It Count
- Official Way Out West Website
Similar Festivals
- Primavera Sound - Major multi-genre festival held in Barcelona, Spain, known for indie and alternative programming
- Flow Festival - Urban music festival held in Helsinki, Finland, with a focus on indie, electronic, and pop
- Roskilde Festival - One of Europe's largest festivals, held annually in Denmark since 1971
- Lowlands Festival - Three-day multi-genre festival held in Biddinghuizen, Netherlands
