Wacken Open Air 2025 reopens with massive metal festival
The Wacken Open Air festival, fondly known as W:O:A, had humble beginnings in the year 1990, starting as a small gathering with only 800 devoted rock fans and a handful of local metal bands. The festival took place in a former gravel pit on the outskirts of the village of Wacken, situated to the northwest of Hamburg. Fast forward to today, and this four-day event has burgeoned into one of the most prominent and well-recognized metal festivals globally, drawing in approximately 185,000 enthusiasts from a whopping 80 countries.
Despite its growth in popularity, snagging tickets has become an increasingly challenging feat as they sell out within hours of release. The price tag has surged as well, clocking in at €333 for this year’s edition. The commercialization of the event has also intensified over the years. Nevertheless, Wacken has emerged as a significant hub for the metal community. When you find yourself at Wacken, expect to witness the iconic “devils horn” metalhead salute, which entails raising a fist with the index and pinky fingers extended, accompanied by the resounding battle cry of “Wackeeeeeen!”
During the festival week, the quaint village of Wacken undergoes a remarkable transformation into a bustling metropolis hosting approximately 95,000 individuals. The masses comprise fans, tens of thousands of crew members and volunteers, as well as hundreds of musicians and media personnel hailing from various corners of the globe. The festival grounds, sprawling across 240 hectares, boast an entirely self-sufficient infrastructure replete with over 1,300 toilets, hundreds of showers, independent electricity and water provision, waste management services, and even a compact police station. The site also features mobile medical stations, field kitchens, shuttle buses, and a well-planned traffic control system.
Under challenging meteorological conditions like heavy rain and accompanying mud, a customary experience at Wacken, the show must go on. With tons of wood chips providing a stable base, a robust drainage system in place, and neighboring farmers on standby to rescue stuck vehicles with their trusty tractors, the festival remains operational even in adverse weather. However, in 2023, the mud emerged victorious, rendering the festival site practically impassable, thereby compelling around 235,000 fans to retreat and nearly jeopardizing the entire event.
To ensure a continuous supply of beer to the festival-goers, who are known for their unwavering dedication to the beverage, an underground beer pipeline was constructed in 2017. This innovative system connects central holding tanks to multiple taps spread across the site, allowing the transportation of up to 10,000 liters of beer per hour. This initiative not only optimizes transportation logistics but also safeguards the road infrastructure while guaranteeing an uninterrupted beer supply.
Nourishment at the festival encompasses a diverse culinary palette ranging from currywurst fries to vegan falafel pockets, with food trucks stationed throughout the festival grounds. The introduction of a new payment mechanism in 2022 ushered in greater convenience. Festival wristbands now incorporate a chip that can be loaded with funds via debit or credit cards at multiple stations. This facilitates cashless transactions across the festival site, eliminating the need for cumbersome cash or card payments.