2023-08-01 16:18:00
A lot of rain rained down on Wacken on Monday, and the prospects for the coming days are mixed. The heavy metal festival, which is scheduled to start on Wednesday and runs until Saturday, begins with great initial difficulties – but many fans were apparently still in a good mood. However, the start of the cult festival with tens of thousands of visitors turned out to be chaotic.
The organizers of the festival in the small community of the same name in Schleswig-Holstein, north-west of Itzehoe, have been warning since Monday: Please be patient. “There is sometimes rain at festivals, but rarely that much,” they wrote on the festival’s website. “Please stop your journey and look for a suitable waiting place where you are until we can inform you that the situation has improved,” it said. The camping areas are currently not passable. However, the preparations for the festival went as planned.” Its start on Wednesday should also take place as planned.
Campgrounds in Wacken closed, travel to the festival stopped
The arrival stop could still not be lifted on Tuesday afternoon, which was confirmed by both the organizers and the police. Those who have not yet started should wait, those who are already on their way should drive to rest areas, such as the place at Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion, which was put into operation on Monday evening. The campsites in Wacken only opened on Monday before they were closed again. Monday and Tuesday are traditionally the arrival days for the Wacken Open Air, which is sold out again this year with 85,000 visitors. Most visitors usually arrive on Tuesday.
But this Tuesday, traffic jams and long queues formed on routes in the direction of Wacken. 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 with beer, reports the German Press Agency (dpa). According to dpa, other fans vented their displeasure on the festival’s Instagram page and demanded planning updates from the organizer.
According to the organizers, the softened soil made it difficult to occupy the camping and event areas with sufficient speed. As a result, vehicles often had to be towed individually by tractors to their designated parking spaces.
Anyone who managed to get to the festival site before the arrival stop could celebrate and test their rubber boots in the mud. Photos that run through agencies show that the mood is obviously good.
Other Wacken visitors first had to persevere on their way. The arrival stop had already caused a whole wave of support for stranded metal fans on Monday: the festival organizers reported on Facebook early Tuesday morning about “great offers of help from private individuals and companies from the region”.
A lot of support for stranded fans: “We stretch the french fork in the air”
This ranges from private overnight stays to van and mobile home parking spaces and shower facilities. A hardware store in Itzehoe reported to the community: “The manager of the market decided without further ado to offer the garden sheds for sale as a dry sleeping option and the parking lot of the market as a free camping area”. In response to so much willingness to help, the organizers add in the post: “We raise the fries fork very far in the air for so much support.”
More than 200 concerts will take place on nine stages at Wacken Open Air, including by Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Helloween and Doro Pesch.
Sources: Wacken Open Air, Wacken Open Air Facebook page / with material from dpa
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