Wacken Open Air 2023
This is how it continues on Tuesday at the metal festival
Heavy rain affects the journey: The starting shot for Wacken Open Air 2023 is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
© imago/Dirk Jacobs
Can this year’s Wacken Open Air take place as planned? Fans are currently waiting for information on arrival – this is currently known.
Excited atmosphere in Wacken: On Wednesday afternoon (2 August) at 3.30 p.m., the starting signal for the legendary metal festival in Schleswig-Holstein is to be given as planned. But the weather is even less cooperative this year than usual: On Monday (July 31), the metal fans’ journey to the event had to be interrupted due to heavy rain. Some of the planned camping areas were not passable, the companions of the festival visitors had to be pulled onto the meadows with tractors. Can the Wacken Open Air 2023 will take place as planned?
“We’re Wet, We’re Wild”
Despite the extreme weather conditions, the organizers are sticking to the festival as planned, as they announced on their channels on Tuesday morning. “We are wet, we are wild (…) We will make this festival an unforgettable one – in a good way,” it says on Instagram to photos and videos of festival guests who have already arrived – in a good mood despite the mud and mud. New information on arrival was announced for 10 a.m., but so far it has been a long time coming.
Campsite open again: “We are slowly filling up the pitches”
How another post from Tuesday morning with the help of new pictures, meanwhile the construction of the stages is progressing as planned. With a Reel, which shows the arrival of new festival visitors, the organizers also announced on Tuesday morning that the campsite was open again. “That should be said: Believe us – we feel for you! We are filling the seats slowly, but we are there. Do not believe any other information. You help us a lot if you stay quiet in the queues or pause your journey.”
The Schleswig-Holstein police overwhelmed the waiting fans on Tuesday morning, among other things Twitter (now X) on: “Please stay close to your cars and close the gaps that have arisen. This will cause traffic to build up even more!”
Ambience among the waiting metalheads
Despite the update that the arrival for the waiting fans at the festival site is slowly getting going again, some Wacken visitors on social media are demanding even more specific information about whether they should go or not. In the queues of cars and campers in front of the festival grounds and among the waiting metal fans at home, the mood seems to be partly characterized by bad moods and, above all, uncertainty, as can be seen from various comments on social media.
“The mood out here on the streets is really bad at the moment. Nothing is moving at all,” reported a user on Instagram on Tuesday morning, for example. Apparently even some bands don’t know how to get to the festival site this year. Some voices even call for the festival to be canceled in the comments or want their money back due to the circumstances.
Others report positive things from the queue: “We’ve been in the queue since 6 a.m. and we can finally see the campground. The mood here is great! It’s moving slowly, but it’s moving. Don’t give up, people,” someone wrote.
Great solidarity around Wacken Open Air
Meanwhile, the solidarity around the festival site is unbroken. Numerous private individuals offer accommodation, hot showers and alternative pitches for campers and mobile homes in the comment columns on social media. On Instagram, the Wacken organizers report, for example, about a hardware store manager from Itzehoe, who without further ado offered the garden shed that was actually for sale as dry sleeping places and the area in front of it as a campsite for metal fans who had traveled there. “We raise our listeners for so much support,” it says on the official Wacken Open Air Instagram channel.
On Monday evening Wacken had open air with a statements announced on the website that the journey had to be temporarily interrupted due to the heavy rain. “The preparations for the festival are going as planned,” it said.
The car park at Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion is currently being used as an alternative for stranded fans. As the NDR reports, citing the parking lot administration, there is currently still space for 2,000 more vehicles. In addition, there is still space on three other parking spaces, according to the parking lot management.