Wacken boss Thomas Jensen on the entry stop
“We have tried everything, but more is not possible”
Thomas Jensen is one of the fathers of the legendary Wacken Festival.
© imago/Dirk Jacobs
Wacken sinks into the rain and chaos. After the admission stop, co-founder Thomas Jensen addresses the visitors in emotional words.
Chaos in Wacken: In the early hours of the morning, those responsible for the heavy metal festival announced a complete ban on admission due to the massive rainfall. At 11 a.m. the open air will start with the legendary opening concert of the Wacken Firefighters. Co-founder Thomas Jensen previously spoke in a detailed statement on the official Instagram page: “We’ve tried everything that is possible, but that’s all we can do: we can’t get it anymore.” It has reached a point where the festival simply cannot take on more people.
It was therefore with a heavy heart that the decision was made to close the site to all visitors with immediate effect. All Wacken fans should now check the websites and social media channels regularly for new developments and information. Jensen describes the current situation with emotional words. You are confronted with a weather situation that you have never had before.
It is also unclear how many people are on the premises
He doesn’t know what was harder: the two corona-related cancellations in 2019 and 2020 or telling the people who are currently on the way that they can’t come anymore. “We’ll come up with something, you can count on it,” explains Jensen.
Furthermore, it is currently still completely unclear how many visitors are currently on the site. Already on Tuesday, the organizers imposed an arrival stop for all cars and mobile homes, since the access roads and also the campsites were transformed into a huge mud field by the rain.
It is also not yet known what will happen to the tickets that have already been purchased. The organizers announced in advance that around 85,000 people will visit Wacken Open Air 2023.