Sweden Hosts a Music Festival for Sperm and Eggs

Way Out West is set to take place from August 8th to 10th this year. This year the festival boasts an impressive line up featuring global stars such as Fred again.., Peggy Gou, Queens of  the Stone Age, Pulp and many more.  

The festival has broken its attendance record for two consecutive years. However, to stay relevant, new fans are crucial. New generations of fans are vital for keeping both artists and music festivals alive and kicking. This year, the festival is choosing to highlight this and the importance of a thriving music scene in an unusual way:  

In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a medical procedure that involves joining a woman's egg and a  man's sperm in a laboratory dish. It helps millions of people get pregnant every year. Recent studies show that music improves the fertilisation rate during the IVF process. Among these is A Spanish study from Institut Marquès in Barcelona that demonstrated IVF success increased with the help of music and vibrations. At the same time, fertilisation rates are going down worldwide. 

Therefore, his year, Way Out West has added an additional stage to help create future fans of great music by 'injecting' live recordings by the headlining artists into their DNA at the earliest stage possible - before they even develop into fetuses. 

So, in collaboration with renowned designer Love Hultén, Way Out West will create a unique, fully functional stage that will play live recordings from Way Out West’s headlining artists for what might be the largest, yet smallest crowd in history: sperm and eggs getting 'ready to rumble' in laboratory. The Future Fan Stage will be placed and activated at the Swedish IVF clinic Eliva in Stockholm.  

"With this cheeky and wonderful idea, we will get future fans hooked on our festival with great live music, even before they've come into being. And if we’re lucky, even contribute to welcoming them into existence. While doing so, we shine a light on the importance of great music. New generations of fans are vital to keeping both artists and music festivals thriving. Without them, memorable concerts won’t see the light of day," said Kimmie Winroth, project manager at Way out West. 

"When they first approached me with the IVF stage project I knew I was all in. The Future Fan Stage was already an amazing concept in theory and had a lot of interesting  design aspects. Combining elements from the lab world with music stage visuals was challenging and fun. For the future fans of Way Out West!," says designer Love Hultén. 

The creative campaign was conceived by the communications agency NORD DDB. It is primarily PR-driven, with the weird and wonderful 'Future Fan Stage' as its centrepiece. The campaign also includes a film about the project and will be distributed across various social media platforms.

"It’s been an amazing experience to help make this project come to life together with professionals from every relevant field. Now we know everything there is to know about the importance of IVF when it comes to secure future generations. And, needless to say, to be able to work together with one of our favourite design geniuses of all time, Love Hultén, has been a humbling experience, to say the least," says Magnus Jakobsson, creative director at Nord DDB.