Music Booming bass makes Wacken's meadows shake
Four evenings of booming bass and roaring guitars. 85,000 metal fans celebrated at the heavy metal festival in Wacken in northern Germany. The Wacken Open Air is one of the biggest heavy metal festivals in the world
03.08.2024, 23:39
SDA
Lots of sunshine instead of mud: the weather mostly played into the hands of the fans at the heavy metal festival in Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein this time. For four days, booming bass, screeching guitars and powerful drumming took center stage on the meadows of the village of 2000 souls. Just a few hours before the end, there was heavy but not long-lasting rain on the Holy Ground, as metal fans call the area. The organizers warned of possible lightning in the meantime.
Around 85,000 visitors have been celebrating at the 33rd Wacken Open Air (W:O:A) since Wednesday. People should celebrate together "and then with the right music", said festival director Thomas Jensen. In generally increasingly difficult times, the peacefully celebrating metal community provided a counterpoint. In 2023, only 61,000 metal fans came to Wacken instead of the expected 85,000 due to the capricious weather.
New concept and calm operations
The head of the Itzehoe police headquarters, Frank Matthiesen, praised the new system with different routes and an additional arrival day. "There was no Wacken feeling on the road because there were no more traffic jams," he said.
The emergency services reported 3,500 call-outs, from insect bites to transportation to hospital. "That's a normal number," said rescue service manager Volker Böhm. Almost 200 visitors were taken to hospital.
The fire in a merchandising tent early on Tuesday morning, which spread to cars and tents, caused a stir. Two visitors had to leave the W:O:A prematurely because they were allegedly shouting right-wing extremist slogans. A witness informed the police. This testifies to the atmosphere of the festival, where there is low-threshold intervention. "You have to be pretty stupid to do that here," said Matthiesen.
Stable prices
Ticket prices will remain stable at 333 euros in 2025. However, an extra 33 euros will be charged per vehicle in future, and 66 euros for larger vehicles such as motorhomes weighing 3.5 tons or more. "The more people in the car, the cheaper," said festival boss Jensen. This protects the environment. Those arriving by bus, train or bike pay nothing extra.
On Friday evening, the US band Korn and Gene Simmons were among those who played. The former singer and bassist with Kiss is now on the road with his solo band. Together they put on a brilliant performance. The same applied to Korn, who were the crowd-pullers of the evening.
The Scorpions, Accept and comedian Bülent Ceylan have also performed in the past few days. He brought Peter Maffay on stage as a surprise guest.
What's next for the festival?
In June, the takeover of festival shareholder Superstruct Entertainment by investment company KKR was announced. Jensen and Hübner still hold a combined stake of around 31 percent in the festival. Jensen announced that they would "eventually" reduce their shares to five percent each. Since the takeover, there has been speculation as to what this means for the future of the festival.
Both festival founders will remain on board, said the editor-in-chief of the magazine "Metal Hammer", Sebastian Kessler, to the German news agency DPA. "It will certainly continue in the same way." Especially as it is the fans who make this festival so special. "You can see that people come, they are passionate about it and some of the biggest metal bands are still playing. So what can happen?"
In the evening, the organizers announced the first four bands for next year's 34th Open Air: Machine Head, Saltatio Mortis, Papa Roach and Gojira. The festival will take place from July 30 to August 2, 2025.
