- Rain, mud and traffic jams have hampered the journey of thousands to the heavy metal open air Wacken in northern Germany and in some cases even stopped it.
- First, the organizers asked those arriving on Monday to temporarily stop somewhere else because the campsites were not passable.
- On Tuesday evening, they then declared a complete “final arrival stop” for festival visitors with vehicles.
Shortly before the start, the festival announced on Instagram early Wednesday morning that the “reasonable visitor capacity” had been reached given the weather conditions. “Any further trips must be stopped and canceled with immediate effect.” This decision was made for the first time in the history of the festival. “We are very sad, but unfortunately the difficult weather situation leaves us no other choice,” it said.
Around 85,000 metal fans were originally expected at the festival. At 11 a.m., the local fire brigade band will kick off, and later metal queen Doro Pesch will be on stage.
Sharp criticism and live stream offer
Fans reacted indignantly and criticized “underground communication”. Some had waited in front of the site for hours. The festival is scheduled to start on Wednesday morning. On Tuesday evening, festival co-founder Thomas Jensen told the German Press Agency: “I hope that we have half of it or more.” Safety is the top priority for the organizers.
Before the start of the festival with a significantly reduced number of guests, festival co-founder Jensen pointed out a live stream. On Magenta TV and MagentaMusik they will stream “as much as possible”, he said in a video published on Instagram. Information about the festival live stream was already available in July. “We can do it, there will be a program, but unfortunately not everyone can participate,” said Jensen.
40 liters per square meter of rain
Tuesday is considered one of the main arrival days, and the festival officially begins on Wednesday. Nevertheless, several campsites around the festival were already well occupied by Tuesday afternoon.
Legend:
The Wacken Open-Air from August 2nd to 5th is considered the largest heavy metal festival in the world and is sold out this year.
KEYSTONE/DPA/Christian Charisius
The paths in between consisted partly of deep mud. According to the police, long traffic jams formed on the access roads, especially from Autobahn 23.
The organizers announced on Tuesday afternoon that the areas could not have been occupied quickly enough because of 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. “Unfortunately, according to the meteorologists present on site, massive rain and possible thunderstorms are to be expected at any time and continuously.”
With a beer on the side of the road
Cars lined up for miles. It was also jammed on many dirt roads. Some metal fans got camping chairs out of their stuck cars and sat down on the side of the road in a good mood and armed with beer. Other fans vented their displeasure on the festival’s Instagram page and demanded planning updates from the organizer.
A total of more than 200 concerts on nine stages are planned. The British band Iron Maiden is at Wacken for the fourth time. Acts like Megadeth, Helloween and Doro Pesch are also expected.