Way Out West festival review: Gothenburg’s eco-conscious haven with Europe’s best line-up

If you’re a UK-based festivalgoer looking for a European summer getaway, the market has never been more saturated. Every weekend from May to September is full of festival options from Portugal up to Norway, all with little to differentiate them.

Ask the artists though – many of whom play countless of these events across a summer – and it seems that Sweden’s Way Out West is the festival to punt for. Across this year’s three-day event in Gothenburg, a striking amount of artists share their genuine love for this event from the stage.

For Thursday night headliner Moby, the main draw is Way Out West’s strong green credentials, with predominantly vegan and all-vegetarian food served onsite (Gothenburg is a global leader in sustainability). The xx’s Oliver Sim, meanwhile, reveals he came here as a punter with friends in 2025 to watch Charli XCX, Chappell Roan and others. Lorde wishes she could stay all weekend to see, in Rolling Stone UK’s eyes, surely the best line-up of any European festival this year. After their Friday night set, Nick Cave’s band and crew seem to agree, dangling their feet off the front of the stage to watch all two majestic hours of The Cure, who play on the opposite end of the festival’s main field.

It’s not hard to see the draw for these artists, and for the sold-out crowd. Hosted in the picturesque Slottsskogen park in the middle of the city, Way Out West feels warm and intimate despite hosting some of the world’s biggest acts. Critics choices (Smerz, Dijon, Oklou) share the bill with heavy hitters like Gorillaz, The Cure and Zara Larsson in a mix similar to that found at Barcelona’s Primavera Sound. While that festival is known for its intensity and chaos, here is a slightly more sedate and cosy version for those whose 6am finishes are behind them.

Those shining brightest across the weekend include Larsson, who has become a global phenomenon in 2026. Even in her relative wilderness years, the crowd at home here in Sweden saw her as a superstar though, and as a result her main stage set serves as an astonishingly well-attended coronation.

Moby’s set, meanwhile, veers wildly from vegan propaganda to pure pandemonium when Gabriels’ Jacob Lusk joins him for a superbly powerful ‘Natural Blues’, before The xx play the hits. Despite the continued power of ‘Crystalised’, ‘On Hold’, ‘VCR’ et al, the set’s best and most potent moments are when spotlighting the trio’s respective solo careers (Jamie’s ‘I’ll Take Care of U’ and ‘Loud Places’, Romy’s ecstatic ‘Enjoy Your Life’, Oliver’s Hideous Bastard track ‘DMT’). It makes for a superb live show, but casts a little doubt on where they go next as a band.

Friday’s programme then brings two sets of old rockers together. First, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds delve into the darkest and most morose corners of their discography, with Cave as animated and preacher-like as ever.

Immediately afterwards, The Cure open with 90 minutes of slow and gloomy songs before the half-hour pay-off to close. Through ‘The Lovecats’, ‘Close to Me’, ‘Friday I’m In Love’ and ‘Boys Don’t Cry’, Robert Smith turns from downbeat frontman into exuberant party starter, jigging around the stage in a manner belying his 67 years. How long Smith and Cave will continue to pour themselves into performances in this manner is up for debate, making both sets feel particularly powerful.

Also going down excellently among the strong British contingent at the festival are Gorillaz, who continue to attract both new Gen Z fanatics and elder generations for the weekend’s biggest crowd, and Ezra Collective, whose exuberant brand of jazz can turn even the most stoic of audiences into a raucous dance party as shown on Saturday afternoon.

There are a few hiccups here though. Sound bleed is a common issue (Cave’s quietest moments get an unwanted kick drum accompaniment from Four Tet’s nearby set, while the main stages facing each other in a relatively small area leads to a significant echo off the opposite stage during Lorde), and the idea of an eco-friendly and socially conscious paradise is dulled somewhat by an exhaustive number of brand activations.

Despite this, Way Out West feels like a standout of the European festival circuit for both artists and fans. Its ability to showcase the world’s biggest artists in a setting both snug and beautiful is rare, with its line-up curation hard to beat too.