Kulturista - Cultural Experiences in West Sweden

C U LT U R E E X P E R I E N C E S I N W E S T S W E D E N 27 The philosophy was simple: Way Out West’s organisers wanted to create a festival that appealed to them. The festival’s première in 2007 proved that the idea was a winning concept and the “green” Gothenburg festival became an overnight success. In spite of its near-magical beginnings, Way Out West didn’t appear out of thin air. Organiser Luger had long been probing the terrain and had built up an extensive network of contacts prior to its launch. Luger’s Ola Broquist explains: “We wanted to create a festival that appealed to us as festival-goers. Our ambition has always been to have a festival that is more than ‘just’ a good Swedish festival. We aim to create an event that is attractive internationally too.” Way Out West is a genuine crowd-pleaser and attracts around 30,000 people every summer to the festival grounds at Slottsskogen and the activities that follow at clubs around Gothenburg, known as Stay Out West. We want to make use of the entire city of Gothenburg,” says Broquist. Among the artists to join Way Out West’s line-up since its inception are interna- tional superstars like Prince, Emmylou Harris and Kanye West, together with Swedish celebrity musicians such as Robyn and First Aid Kit. Way Out West has also profiled itself as a sustainable festival, with a carefully-planned food and carbon footprint-reduction philosophy, winning both national and international acclaim for its efforts. Since 2012, all food served at the festival grounds is completely vegetarian and, in some cases, also vegan. “If you go back 15 years, sustainability efforts at a festival might have consisted of rubbish bins, compost and waste sorting, at best. We’ve worked to promote sustainability on a broader scale right from the outset. We believe that social sustainability is just as important as environmental sustainability, which is why gender equality is also on our agenda. It’s important for us to design a music program- me that promotes equality between the sexes, for instance,” Broquist concludes. O ut W est – the Sustainable Festival