Mud wakeboarding and mud baths Wacken fans don't let the rain spoil their mood
85,000 fans are looking forward to the heavy metal festival in Wacken in northern Germany. But constant rain has turned the grounds into muddy fields. You can find the best impressions of the festival in the video and in the gallery below.
03.07.2024, 08:22
dpa/toko
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- Fans are not allowed to travel to the Wacken Festival due to the heavy rain and the muddy grounds. The organizer has imposed a travel ban until the end of the festival. Some cars were jammed on dirt roads.
- The campsites at the heavy metal festival are also covered in mud.
- Wacken is sold out with around 85,000 visitors.
Due to the rain, no more fans can enter the grounds of the heavy metal festival in Wacken. Shortly before the start, the festival announced on Instagram early Wednesday morning that the "reasonable visitor capacity" had been reached in view of the weather situation.
"Any further travel must be suspended and canceled with immediate effect." This is the first time in the festival's history that this decision has been made. "We are very sad, but the continuing difficult weather situation unfortunately leaves us no other choice," the statement continued.
Fans reacted indignantly and criticized "subterranean communication". Some had held out in front of the grounds for hours. The festival is due to start on Wednesday morning.
On Tuesday evening, festival co-founder Thomas Jensen told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur: "I hope that we have half of them inside or even more." Safety is the top priority for the organizers. Around 85,000 metal fans were originally expected.
The conditions around the tranquil venue and the announcements that no more fans with cars would be allowed to enter the waterlogged areas had already caused displeasure among some of the visitors on Tuesday.
The areas could not have been occupied quickly enough due to the "persistently difficult weather conditions with rainfall of around 40 liters per square meter in the last 24 hours" and the resulting condition of the camping and event areas as well as the access roads, the organizers had announced at midday.
"Unfortunately, according to the meteorologists on site, heavy rain and possible thunderstorms can still be expected at any time and on a sustained basis."
A total of more than 200 concerts are planned on nine stages. The British band Iron Maiden will be performing in Wacken for the fourth time. Acts such as Megadeth, Helloween and Doro Pesch are also expected.