While the world’s best athletes were vying for gold medals at the Paris Olympics in August, I made my own Olympic attempt: I tried the Nordic Music Festival Gauntlet.
Every year, Øya in Norway, Way Out West in Sweden and Flow Festival in Finland take place on the same weekend in the first half of August. Nordic summers and these end-of-season music festivals are so full of excitement and extraordinary experiences that I decided to make the most of my trip. So I set out to visit all three music festivals, each in a different country, within five days.
Øya in Oslo, Norway
I started in Oslo on a Monday, but since the festival didn’t start until Wednesday, I had time to relax and enjoy the city – including the scenic waterfront, the opera house and the famous Munch Museum by the sea. By Wednesday, I felt ready and couldn’t wait to start my journey.
Øya has been held in Oslo’s central Tøyen park since 2014 (except for the COVID-related years of 2020 and 2021) and is attended by around 20,000 people every day. Almost every stage is at the bottom of a hill, so natural slopes provide ideal views. It would be a challenge to find a more idyllic setting where a few thousand people can listen to music together.
With varied dishes such as dumplings, pasta and even curry, the culinary highlight of the year was undoubtedly a grilled monkfish cheese, or Anglerfisk Øyatoaster. You know what a monkfish is: that evil-looking, sharp-toothed fish with the dangling lamp on its forehead. Turns out this strange guy tastes delicious.
On my first day, I went to see the English-American duo The Kills, Los Angeles rapper Vince Staples and English singer-songwriter PJ Harvey. Although I loved The Kills’ album Midnight boomtheir uninspiring set made it clear that we’re a long way from Urban Outfitters in 2008. Vince Staples humorously asked the crowd if they knew who he was. After a lackluster response, he quipped, “Damn, we should have brought Norwegian death metal.” I was completely captivated by PJ Harvey and spent much of their set imagining anyone who could match their energy at any point in their career, let alone after nearly 40 years.
Although I had a bit of a head start, by the second day the jet lag was starting to take its toll and I was stuck to my hotel bed like flypaper. I dragged myself to the park but was stopped by clouds of second hand smoke that I wasn’t used to and eventually went back to the hotel where I slept for a few more hours, still determined to be back in time for the headliner’s performance. After some water and a paracetamol (Norwegian Advil but five times stronger) I set off.
On the second day, I got to work as a tour photographer for Janelle Monáe. Her team invited me to capture behind-the-scenes moments and to photograph the action from the side stage of her “Age of Pleasure” performance. She is probably one of the best artists at the moment and her performance absolutely impressed me.
I originally planned to spend just two days at Øya, but after Jack White was announced as headliner the week before, I couldn’t resist adding an extra day, especially given the release of his amazing new album. No name. I was also thrilled when I saw the French band Air playing on the same stage shortly before him.
The pairing made for one of the most sonically powerful days I’ve ever experienced in all my years of attending music festivals. Air brought a mellow touch to the main stage, much to the delight of the enthusiastic crowd. His performance was followed by an absolutely stunning, career-spanning 13-song setlist from Jack White, climaxing of course with The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army,” leaving the crowd desperately clamoring for more.
By adding an extra day for Jack White, I streamlined my travel plan and increased the level of difficulty slightly, so that the last three days became a real gauntlet from Norway via Sweden to Finland.
Way Out West in Gothenburg, Sweden
The first leg of the ordeal began on Saturday morning with a bus ride from Oslo to Gothenburg, Sweden. Departure was scheduled for 9am, with arrival about three hours later. I had planned to catch up on sleep during the journey – until a noisy group of elementary school students on a group tour boarded and those hopes were instantly dashed. I was relieved when we arrived in Gothenburg and enjoyed the mile-long drive to the festival site in glorious summer weather.
Located in Slottsskogen Park, a dreamy forest setting with ponds, Way Out West has a similar vibe to San Francisco’s Outside Lands in Golden Gate Park. It also felt much more like a big festival than Øya, offering plenty of outdoor activities and also feeling more crowded despite being held in a larger area.
I managed to catch the start of André 3000 just in time, which is the day version of New blue sun. Since each performance was a unique improvisation, I couldn’t tear myself away. Although he was criticized by jazz enthusiasts, I was more taken by the creative spirit he exuded than the execution. Although many fans were disappointed that he didn’t play anything by Outkast, you just have to know what to expect: an all-instrumental flute performance from an enthusiast who happens to be one of the greatest rappers of all time.
During the day I also met a couple of Swedish music fans from Stockholm called Adam and Tommy. They told me that their trip from Stockholm was essentially a party train as almost everyone was heading to the festival. In the evening I also got to chat briefly with my friend and lighting designer Sarah Landau before Fever Ray’s thrilling set. The other biggest attractions of the day were undoubtedly Icona Pop and Benjamin Ingrosso from Sweden. It seemed like almost everyone was there for these two as huge crowds filled the Linné tent stage for Icona Pop and the main stage of the Flamingo Stage for Ingrosso’s Harry Styles-inspired pop.
The National rounded off their European tour with a performance on the Flamingo Stage, but things really got exciting in the Linné Tent, where Brooklyn rapper Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) played a tribute set to MF Doom, complete with a bandana replacing the iconic Dr. Doom comic book-inspired mask, in honor of the legendary rapper who passed away on October 31, 2020.
After a long day, I was tempted to plop down on the field and eat a whole pizza, as they are often sold as whole pizzas rather than individual slices at European festivals. However, I opted for a more conservative option and grabbed a cinnamon muffin from 7-Eleven on the way back to the hotel in anticipation of my already fast-approaching wake-up call.
Flow Festival in Helsinki, Finland
For the final leg of my trip, I took the first morning flight to Helsinki. As it turned out, there wasn’t enough room for luggage on the crowded flight, so they just didn’t load it. It wasn’t until I arrived in Helsinki and waited at the baggage claim with the other passengers on the flight for almost an hour that we all learned that our luggage was still on the tarmac in Sweden. Luckily, I had my camera gear in my carry-on, so I trusted that the situation with my checked luggage would sort itself out and continued downtown to the festival.
Flow takes place in a truly unique venue: the disused Suvilahti power plant, complete with a huge gasometer next to the main stage. For their 20th anniversary, they’ve pulled out all the stops and booked artists like Halsey, Fred again… and Pulp as headliners.
This was my fourth visit to Flow and it’s always the highlight of my summer – along with enjoying the city’s many, many saunas. The festival has been carbon neutral since 2009 and since last year the entire site has been meat-free, but still offers some of the best food options of any music festival. This year I treated myself to crispy Korean baos and kimchi fries.
During my stay, I was able to see Brazilian legend Marcos Valle, who popularised bossa nova in the 1960s, perform on the unique Balloon Stage, an intimate 360-degree stadium on the grounds with a giant balloon in the centre. I also caught sets from Gasellit, a rap band from Helsinki who built an entire petrol station on stage as part of their production; Kenya Grace, the British singer-songwriter/DJ who made her festival debut at Coachella in April; and English singer Jessie Ware.
When I returned to my hotel that evening, I was surprised to find my delayed luggage in front of me. It was a minor inconvenience, but I have to give Finnair credit for reuniting us the same day.
To celebrate, I ended up eating pizza on the steps of Senate Square, complete with Moomin meat (as the Finns call mozzarella cheese, named after the popular wobbly cartoon trolls), and followed an otter to watch the Northern Lights over the Market Square. I wish there was a more logical way to describe this sequence of events, but it’s just what happened.
Was it all worth it in the end? Well, what exactly? It wasn’t a practical endeavor, but more something I wanted to do because it was meaningful to me, and it wasn’t quite as difficult as I expected. It also made me think about the life of a touring musician. When they’re on the road, they don’t see much of the city other than the stage and their accommodation, and I imagine the logistics of traveling between shows takes almost as much effort as the shows themselves.
I wouldn’t necessarily recommend other travelers visit all three festivals in one weekend, but I would definitely recommend a trip to any of the three. If I had to give them medals, I’d give all three gold any day and no festival in the US. The relaxed atmosphere, friendly fans, and quaint, cozy surroundings make Øya, Way Out West, and Flow worth every step of the trip.
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