The Way Out West Festival is a music festival in Gothenburg, Sweden beginning on Thursday, August 9th and ending Saturday, August 11th. The first Way Out West Festival was held in 2007 with performances in clubs on Thursday and performances were in Slottsskogen on Friday and Saturday. The Way Out West Festival was the first festival in Sweden to be awarded the ISO 20121 certification for sustainability. The festival was able to gain the certification by ecological, economic and social sustainability. Ecological sustainability was achieved by not consuming more raw materials than can be made and reducing the ecological footprint every year. Longer, organisation behind Way Out West, achieved economic sustainability by having as many festival goers as possible. The social sustainability is achieved by keeping in mind how the residents of the town of Gothenburg is affected by the festival. Tickets for the festival can be bought here.

While on tour American rapper Kendrick Lamar is returning to Gothenburg, Sweden to headline in the Way Out West Festival. Lamar debuted seven years ago with album Overly Dedicated which was released on September 14, 2010. In 2017 Lamar released his fourth studio album Damn on April 14th. The English indie rock band Arctic Monkey played Slottsskogen in 2009 and will be returning to headline in the festival this year during their world tour. The band’s world tour starts on May 5th in Los Angeles, CA and ends on August 14th in Budapest, Hungary. Arcade Fire, a Canadian indie rock band formed in 2000 is returning to Sweden for the first time since 2014 to perform in the Way Out West Festival. The band’s world tour starts on April 6th in Dublin, Ireland and wraps up on August 15th in Paredes De Coura, Portugal.

American singer-songwriter Patti Smith who has been performing poetic punk for the past five decades is set to perform in the Way Out West Festival. Smith’s book Devoted will be released in Swedish stores and is a build up to her performance in the music festival. Lykke Li, Thastrom, Sigrid, Dirty Projectors, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Jenny Lewis, Fever Ray and Iggy Pop are more artists set to perform at the Swedish music festival. Performances by Mura Masa, St Vincent, Bonobo, Jorja Smith, Brockhampton, J Hus, Timbuktu & Damn!, Sarah Klang, Noname and Grizzly Bear wrap up the sustainable festival.