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Find Gold in Gothenburg!
Festivals. You usually know who you want to see, it’s something to look forward to. Big names big stages right? Let me remind you of the joy of finding something new, refreshing… the joy of finding a band that you just know you’re going to fall in love with for a long long time. You don’t need a £400 budget and a damp tent for this, you need a showcase festival. As you will see if you scour back to our previous reviews, you need Viva Sounds.
Here you can enjoy getting lost in a city in Sweden, in venues you’ve never heard of, making friends with people from all over the globe and come home clutching a contact book of newly-made lifelong friends and a suitcase full of new vinyl from your new favourite bands.
Viva Sounds returns to Gothenburg from 26th to 28th November 2026 for its ninth edition, with more than 100 shows, around 90 artists and 17 venues spread across the city.
Back again this year are the infamous gigs on a tram…. and a boat too.
The Family Men, much lauded here at Louder Than War, are playing again, and that enough is reason enough to attend, let alone the fact that there’s a plethora of bands from all over the globe. The UK is represented by CRUZ, Harriet Rose, CUSP and The Harbours, while overseas acts include Alix Fernz from Canada, France’s We Hate You Please Die, Kyoyoko from China, and many more bands from across the world. Take a listen to the Viva Sounds official playlist, it’s filled with bangers.
You can find out more about tickets and bands playing at the Official Viva Sounds website.
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All words by Christopher Lloyd, you can find his author’s archive here.
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