Way Out West uses its home city as a second stage once the sun goes down

Even as the festival market has exploded over the last decade or so, the Swedish festival has consistently pulled in the biggest hitters in alternative and pop, and the audiences to match; the 2026 edition last weekend saw names such as The Cure, Gorillaz, Zara Larsson and Lily Allen share a poster with Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The xx and Geese. With a seemingly ever-increasing undercard to match, this year’s instalment felt particularly momentous before it had even begun and proved to be just that, selling out every ticket category for the first time in its 19-year history.

For all of its growing stature, though, WOW remains remarkably embedded within the city that hosts it. Where many so-called city festivals require a surprisingly hefty walk and serious forward planning, WOW's site at Slottsskogen sits in the heart of Gothenburg. The home of Volvo, Stellan Skarsgård and an archipelago of over 7,000 islands and islets, Gothenburg in summer has breezy, laid-back charm; its low-rise skyline, gently winding canals, green spaces and efficient tram system helps maintain a relaxed pace despite being Sweden’s second-largest city. A brief stroll from the festival site lies Haga, the city’s oldest suburb where locals peruse boutiques and buy cinnamon buns bigger than their faces for a spot of sacred fika.

Gothenburg is also frequently voted one of the world’s most sustainable cities – there is even a recycling barge that stops at various docks to make it easier for inner-city residents to reduce waste. This commitment extends to Way Out West, which bans single-use plastics, uses smart energy and has served only vegetarian and vegan food since 2012. Again, the festival feels like a natural extension of the city, rather than an interruption.

Come late afternoon, festival-goers begin spilling out of the trams and side streets leading to Slottsskogen. There is an early swell on Thursday for a one-two punch of sass from Lily Allen and Zara Larsson on the two main stages, which face each other and alternate smoothly all weekend. Allen’s West End Girl show is well received even if its novelty has worn off a little by now, but there is serious anticipation for Sweden’s biggest international breakout star in recent years.

This happens to be Larsson’s only domestic festival appearance of the year, and though it’s sandwiched by sets at Sziget and Flow, this must surely be her most zealous audience, certainly one of the biggest of the weekend, screaming from the off as the thunderous blasts of “Midnight Sun” kick off a full-band, full-energy hour-long set.

For a different crowd, Anna Von Hausswolff’s performance is an even greater homecoming. Since her 2012 breakthrough Ceremony, the Gothenburg local has ridden a wave of acclaim for her inventive use of voice and organ, expanding her sound with a gust of energy and oomph on last year’s ICONOCLASTS. Songs from the latter make the majority of her festival setlist, occasionally turning to older tracks such as “Ugly and Vengeful” to add even more snarl to a grand but wickedly atmospheric performance – a curious soundtrack to the evening’s golden hour.

The following day, the smooth croons of Dijon feel more fitting for this woozy window of the day, but the festival's programming has a habit of making you question what might be happening elsewhere. Inevitably, the quality of the line-up means clashes are unavoidable, although the manageable site makes it easy to dip in and out of shows and enjoy the pondside walks in between. The strange thing is that some of the acts who seem tailor-made for this part of the day are playing several hours later in venues across the city. The lush, velveteen psych-rock of Melody’s Echo Chamber would glimmer in the August sunshine, for example, but is instead reserved for Stay Out West, the festival’s nocturnal counterpart.

When a line-up becomes enviable on this scale, a festival has two options: grow in size and/or duration, as Primavera Sound has done; or split itself in two, as WOW does. Honestly, this does take a little getting used to. You can’t just see the whole of The xx and casually stroll over to the film studios in town and expect to get into Earl Sweatshirt’s show, for example. But after a little adjusting and commitment, Stay Out West begins to feel like a magic bonus.

Pushing on into the late hours after standing in the sun all day admittedly helps, but there’s an added layer of dreaminess to Melody’s set in Pustervik, a former theatre at the core of the city’s music scene, where chandeliers cast the room in a cosy nostalgia befitting the sway of a song like “In The Stars”. Hannah Cohen’s intimate Saturday night show at Folkteatern enjoys a similar kind of reverie, the sound sublime as the fluttering synths of “Earthstar” fill the room above the gentle groove.

The vibe isn’t always soft-edged and ethereal, though. Kai Slater’s Sharp Pins burst with pep and scratchy, melodic guitars across thirty minutes of out-and-out power pop. Ninajirachi is an Australian producer whose sweaty Thursday night set explodes with glitchy hyperpop maximalism, climaxing in the bizarrely catchy closer “Fuck My Computer”.

Collecting some of the current buzziest bands such as Westside Cowboy and A Good Year, and driving with nocturnal beats from Honey Dijon or Josh Caffé, Stay Out West is more than an afterparty; it’s a festival in its own right, one certainly worth travelling for.

And yet, some of the weekend’s most magic moments are to be found in the day: Cindy Pooch’s ever-soaring vocal solo for Neapolitan groovers Nu Genea; the raw, teasing unpredictability of Nels Cline’s guitar solo on Wilco’s “Impossible Germany”; and how The Cure’s deep, expansive sound patiently guides us towards the hits across two hours, with Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds sitting on the stage opposite for all of it.

For all the scale of its programming and, truth be told, the aching ankles to show for it, Way Out West still never quite feels like a festival that has outgrown itself. It may feel like two festivals at times, but together they make for something significantly richer.