News about Stormvåg

Stormvåg opened in May 2026 with a ceremony that matched both its name and Gothenburg’s maritime identity. Liseberg christened the new swing ride as if it were a ship. During the opening, port employee Kristina Karlsson broke a bottle against the attraction in traditional seafaring style. The bottle was made of sugar, avoiding any glass fragments in the park.

The opening immediately gave Stormvåg its own story. Karlsson was named the first official godmother of an attraction in Liseberg’s history. That turned the start-up of the ride into more than a technical milestone: it became a public moment with a local character.

Looopings also confirmed Stormvåg’s role in the park line-up. The wild swing XL from ART Engineering seats 24 riders, swings while the gondola rotates and occupies the former Kristallsalongen site, between Fisketuren and Jukebox. At 14.5 metres high, the attraction is intended as a middle step between children’s rides and Liseberg’s stronger thrill rides.

A few weeks after the Kristallsalongen news, Liseberg made the replacement concrete: Stormvåg. The park announced the ride as a wild swing XL from German manufacturer ART Engineering, a larger generation of a ride type that was rapidly gaining ground across Europe. Stormvåg was planned for a 2026 opening on the former mirror-maze site.

The specifications immediately showed what Liseberg was aiming for. The gondola would seat 24 guests, divided over two sides, and swing back and forth to a height of 14.5 metres. The motion evokes a top spin, but passengers do not go upside down. That keeps the experience suitable for a broad audience while still giving it visible movement and energy.

Stormvåg also had a clear role in Liseberg’s park layout. The surrounding area would be renewed at the same time, including new toilets and lockers. Director Andreas Andersen described the ride as a bridge between the children’s area Kaninlandet and the park’s stronger attractions. That gave Stormvåg a strategic purpose: accessible, but noticeably more dynamic than a traditional family ride.

In August 2025, Liseberg took the first visible step toward Stormvåg by announcing the closure of Kristallsalongen. The mirror maze from 1962 was the park’s oldest attraction and, according to director Andreas Andersen, had welcomed more than fifteen million visitors. Its final operating day was set for 14 September, after which the maze would be removed and the surrounding buildings renovated.

The decision clearly marked the end of an era. Liseberg said remaining set pieces, including mirrors, would not simply be discarded but stored for possible reuse elsewhere in the park. At the same time, the replacement was still described only in broad terms: a major family attraction ordered for a summer 2026 opening.

For visitors and fans, the news mattered because it showed that Stormvåg was not just a standalone addition. The later wild swing XL would occupy a site with a long park history. That made the new ride part of a wider area renewal and gave its arrival more context than a normal capacity-driven investment.