In the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, in the village of Wacken, after a two-year break caused by the coronavirus pandemic, another open-air heavy metal festival opened, the Wacken Open Air – the largest in the world.
The festival has been held since 1990. At the beginning of August, more than 75,000 heavy music lovers gather in the fields around Wacken. And in 2022, tens of thousands arrived in the small village not only from Germany, but also from Australia, Mexico, Japan, Israel, South Africa and other countries around the world.
200 groups and tens of thousands of visitors
The village of Wacken, whose population does not exceed 2,000 people, once a year, namely at the beginning of August, gathers more than 85,000 people in its fields: festival visitors, organizers, representatives of the media and only curious tourists come to the main festival of Rock Hard. A major event is taking place on an area of 250 hectares.
Germany’s A23 motorway now even has a special sign, which is usually installed to designate UNESCO World Heritage Sites, with a photo of the festival’s main stage.
It’s hard to pass: this sign on the German highway now points to the world’s biggest rock festival
About 200 bands will perform in Wacken from August 4th to 6th. For the first time on the stage of the world famous festival – the American nu-metal band Slipknot. A performance by Rammstein frontman Till Lindemann was also scheduled, but had to be cancelled. However, the public’s disappointment did not last long, as the festival’s lineup promises explosive emotions even without Rammstein: Arch Enemy, Feuerschwanz, Gloryhammer, Therapy?, Hämatom. Audiences will also be joined by Finnish hard rock band Lordi, winners of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006.
Wacken without dirt?
In the countryside around the village of Wacken for the festival, an entire town was erected in a few weeks, called the “Holy Ground”. In the “sacred land” of the Wacken metalworkers, three football fields, pavilions, tents and stages are set up, and barriers are erected. It often rains heavily during the festival. Visitors, so to speak, are used to kneading earth. The current dry weather has taken its toll. Mass wallowing in the mud will have to be abandoned. But it will be difficult for the organizers to get rid of the dirt in general.
The entire city grows on 250 hectares. After the festival, mountains of rubbish remain
Around the outdoor concert venues, where many thousands of metal parties will take place day and night, there are places for a giant campground. This great celebration of hard rock has a downside. Visitors to the festival traditionally leave a mountain of rubbish: furniture, tents, refrigerators. The disposal of this rubbish costs the organizers a round sum. So this year, following the general trend of caring for the environment, the organizers decided to organize a contest under the hashtag #greenwacken. Visitors to the festival can take a photo of the clean and tidy place left behind and post the photo on Instagram. The prizes await the winners, among which are tickets for the Wacken Open Air-2023 festival, whose ticket sales, by the way, start immediately after the end of this festival. And tickets are selling out fast!
Source: DW
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