Wacken Open Air (W:O:A) is a summer open-air heavy metal music festival. It takes place annually in the village of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany, 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Hamburg.
The festival was first held in 1990 as a small event for local German bands. W:O:A is usually held at the beginning of August and lasts four days. It is currently considered the biggest heavy-metal festival in the world. In 2011, the festival attracted 80,000 festival visitors and 6,000 personnel for a total of roughly 86,000 attendees.
The festival traditionally ends on the first Sunday in August, and at midnight the following Monday tickets go on sale for the next year. Remarkably, all 75,000 tickets were sold out within 43 hours for 2014, 12 hours for 2015, and 23 hours for 2016, despite the fact that the lineup (with the exception of rumors or headliners) had not been announced. The non-optional basic ticket price for all four days, including camping for a week, was EUR220 in 2017 and will be for 2018 as well. In 2015, 158 bands were playing on eight stages.
The international significance of the festival is shown by the attendees in recent years consisting of 30% foreigners, with up to 10% non-Europeans, from about 30-40 different countries all around the world. Many metal fans travel from half a world away just to stand in cow meadows before stages set in the middle of nowhere. In 2017, an official count confirmed visitors from over 80 different nations at the festival. A lot of metalheads, metal and hard rock bands worldwide are keen to make the journey to "The Mecca of Heavy Metal Culture" (Sam Dunn / Metal: A Headbanger's Journey ), "The Holy Land" (Wacken 3D - a 2014 movie shown in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy), "The Cathedral of Heavy Medal" (Paul O'Neill / Trans-Siberian Orchestra), or "The Summit of Heavy Metal" (Thomas Gabriel Fischer / Celtic Frost) at least once in their lifetime, just for the experience.
Video Wacken Open Air
Village of Wacken during W:O:A
The citizens of Wacken (~1,800 in number) can attend for free, which turns W:O:A into a kind of public holiday due because the village joins in the fun. Everywhere, private biergartens are set up and bands play out on the street. The friendly north-Germans offer a warm welcome to those associated with "the scary looking, devil worshipers", whose aggression--Headbanging, Wall of death, or screaming--is just for during the concert, the festival being considered for the most part quite peaceful and safe. Nearly every citizen offers support, from farmers offering shelter in their barns and transportation to the venue, to kids earning pocket money by helping to transport beer and food, to homeowners offering metalheads the use of toilet facilities. Such support is good business as well, as about an additional EUR20,000,000 are spent in the Wacken area every year by festival visitors. The amazing villagers are one reason why W:O:A sells out immediately. During the festival, the village itself becomes a sightseeing attraction for people who have no tickets nor love of metal and hard rock at all, but who just enjoy watching metalheads from the sidelines. According to a police report of 2016, up to 110,000 people in total visited the village and the festival every day that year, making Wacken for a week the third-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein. The award-winning documentary Full Metal Village by Korean Cho Sung-Hyung deals with the relations between villagers and the festival goers; the film making the village internationally known beyond the music scene.
Maps Wacken Open Air
Festival crowds
The W:O:A audience, bands, and artists informally address each other as "Wacken", which is its own legend and another reason why the festival sells out without billing.
Wacken is not about the bands, isn't it?! It is about the people who come to Wacken. That what is about.
Vibe
German crowds in general tend interact well and are outgoing during shows, which creates musical comradeship among those who enjoy this kind of crossing of emotional boundaries--crowdsurfing and moshing--with a little bit of beer intoxication by ten o'clock.
To quote some band members from 25 Years Louder Than Hell - The W:O:A documentary:
It is one of the best crowds in the world, actually!
People have just fun. They celebrate every note. Sometimes I think it doesn't matter who is on stage. They just into it and that's unique worldwide.
It is the consensus among the bands that the most impressive sight and experience is standing on stage in front of the sea of 70,000 - 80,000 metalheads, who display national flags from every part of the world, and who are going completely nuts during the shows, developing a one-of-a-kind energy, which is transmitted to the stage and inspires the bands into giving everything and performing their all-time best shows. Some bands become demanding of the crowd. In 2015, there was a memorable moment during a show by Rock Meets Classic, when a too-sedate Wacken audience, who had come to listen to a classical orchestra, was berated by "chief animator" Dee Snider, of Twisted Sister, that they weren't singing loud enough and doing their part to live up to the fame of Wacken crowds. Then, after some dry exercises with "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock", Snider adjusted the sound to 120 decibels and finished with "Highway to Hell", so that the show got noticed in Kiel 70 kilometres (43 mi) away.
Looks, clothing, styles and self-expressions
Wacken crowds are famous for crazy appearances and self-expression. The well-known photo session by Pep Bonet, in his collection book we the republic of wacken, dealt with Wacken crowds in 180 pages and on 2 CDs. Shortly before, during, and after the festival, German nationwide newspapers and magazines, such as Der Spiegel or Süddeutsche Zeitung, compete for the funniest pictures of the annual W:O:A event, so that the entire country has something to laugh about. Therefore, Wacken is often compared with Burning Man festival in Nevada or Fusion Festival in Lärz, but just for Hard 'n Heavy fans.
Although officially there is no dress code, in line with the metal subculture the crowd dresses in particular styles. Black is color of first choice, especially a T-shirt featuring a favorite band or a W:O:A T-shirt of the current or a previous year the wearer attended. Kutte with patches of favorite bands, leather, kilts, studs, spikes, and chains are also popular. A special Wacken fashion is Viking, day-after the apocalypse (e.g. Mad Max), or medieval looks. The rest is crazy free style reminding one a little of Carnival and even a non-conforming white tuxedo would be a possibility. Some visitors don't care about dressing at all.
In the early years, the visitors were noticed for their long hair, piercings, and tattoos, but such is too common to be worth mentioning these days:
If you want to be someone special, don't get a tattoo!
Family and community feeling
Most of Wacken crowd are regular visitors. Many of them keep score by getting W:O:A tattoos, with stars for every year attended, or by a collection of entrance badges. A few couples were married at W:O:A, on stage in front of hundreds of metalheads who cried "their f--king eyes out" during the ceremonies. Others had their honeymoons at the festival or became engaged. For some visitors the festival is the highlight of the year, not just concerning music, but for their entire life, and the place they desire to be all the time. That's where the nickname "The Holy Land" comes from.
I think that is something very special to Wacken that is a all-day thing and people are here all-day. Hangover!? What ever. It's time to get up. It's time to rock. It's fucking raining?! We don't care. We are covered with mud?! We don't care. That is their time in a year. This their time to go. Just let it all loose. Forget all the problems and raid.
Even it sounds properly wicked for some people (ER: by up to 90,000 people), it is like a huge family party.
They are all sorts of awful things going on in the world you look at the moment. Newspapers, you see it on the TV. All this bullshit, people going around killing people, murdering people in the name of religion or what ever the fucking is.I don't give a shit, quite frankly. Because the one thing all of us stand for; this is family! This is not one nation. This is not one race. This is not one religion. These are all religions. Every race. Every color. Every person. Every gender, it use to be two or a few more. - You know what?! - We are all family in this together and everybody is welcome. And the answer to the bullshit is going on out there at the moment; is not to be full of hated, it is to be full of love and light and music and a lot of beer!
That shows you how connected people are in the metal world, because it is a really deep, deep, deep emotional thing for our fans as music is. The great thing about metal is it doesn't matter what generation you in, it doesn't matter what kind of life-level you at, it doesn't matter how much money you got. This comradely, this metal spirit, that really unite us together with that sound and particularly with these festivals. This is a great celebration. This Wacken is one of the most important festivals in the world. And this not only for the bands, but for all these metalheads. All these metalheads see each other once a year at Wacken. And these keep us a home, a special vibe, strong and powerful.
Demographics
According to a 2015 survey of 808 visitors the crowd consisted of the following demographics:
Age: <16 years 0,2%, 16-17 years 2.5%, 18-25 years 17.5%, 26-29 years 29.8%, >30 years 29.7% and 0.9% N/A. Average 27.2 years.
Educational level: High school or similar 40.3%, advanced technical college entrance qualification 19.9%, secondary school level 30.8%, without degree 0.6% and 6% N/A.
Money spent during W.O:A: >EUR400 13.1%, EUR301-400 12%, EUR201-300 24.3%, EUR101-200 32.4%, EUR51-100 12.1%, EUR26-50 2.5%, EUR11-25 0.4%, <= EUR10 0.5% and 2.7% N/A. Average EUR250.80.
Distance traveled to W:O:A: >700 km 25.4%, 601-700 km 11.6%, 501-600 km 8.5%, 301-500 km 18.8%, 201-300 km 9.7%, 101-200 km 6.9%, 51-100 km 7.7%, 25-50 km 4.7%, <25 km 5.7% and 1% N/A.
A home for the elderly of Itzehoe takes frequently field trips to the festival, to celebrate their over-70 parties, because Wacken seems to be the perfect spot to find out that one is still alive. Hosts grant them free passes. The metalheads show their admiration and respect to the seniors by hailing them with "Waaacken" battle cries and showing the Sign of the horns. The elderly patrons, up to 99 years old, admire mostly the peaceful, huge gathering for music; which were unknown in their youth.
Deep Purple attempted to explain Wacken as a fountain of youth at Wacken 2013:
As you get older the world changes on you and the world becomes a more serious place and lot people do tend to forget what they like when they were kids; and when they do come to a Rock'n'Roll show and they are few kids in the audience. The kids actually remind them what is like being 18 again. And then those guys or those women they forget that they are 55 or 60 and they become 15 years old kids again. And it is an amazing thing to see happen.
I see that all around here. The music has a great power to move people.
Numbers
Since 2011, the hosts have set the target number of attendees at 84,500 people. 75,000 tickets are sold, a third of those being reserved for foreign visitors. An additional 5,000 tickets are reserved for a special guest list of the hosts, mostly with backstage passes. Free passes go to the 1,800 villagers of Wacken and the up to 158 bands and their crews. 2,600 are for organizational staff, a number that could vary drastically in some years. Passes for a couple of hundred of officials and emergency personnel--such as police officers, customs officers (searching for drugs), regulatory authorities, fire fighters and paramedics--are also needed.
In 2011, the hosts decided to not let the festival grow any further, despite the huge demand for tickets. There were several reasons for this decision: First, logistical problems. Wacken is a small village and the entire festival infrastructure must be built up from scratch beginning two weeks before each festival--stages, fresh water, camping grounds, toilets, showers, power, food and beverage supplies, etc. Further growth would create demands that could not be satisfied. Second, safety. Local authorities got very sensitive regarding security after the Love Parade disaster, in 2010, when 21 people died from suffocation and 500 more were injured. Therefore, every festival has to meet the highest safety standards, which are strictly controlled by regulatory authorities nowadays, and which would be hard to meet with a further increase in attendance. Third, so as to not jeopardize the acceptance of the festival by the village, due to the strain caused by higher numbers of visitors. And last, to keep the festival grounds concentrated, which otherwise would have to be expanded.
Camping ground
In 2015, W:O:A established 2.2-square-kilometre (0.85 sq mi) camping ground, directly connected to the core festival area, for visitors.
Beer pipeline and brewery
In order to make the event more Eco-friendly, the festival organizers decided to have a 7 kilometer (4 mile) beer pipeline installed on site for the 2017 edition in order to cut down on traffic and waste. To complete the supply chain Wacken has its own brewery since 2016.
Band and artist selection
Although the W:O:A lineup is strictly by invitation (the last known successful exception was a request by the Scorpions for 2006), in 2003 about 3,000 bands applied for a chance to perform at the festival. In 2004, the festival hosts decided to establish the Wacken Metal Battle. which is now one of the world's prestigious up-and-coming music competitions.
The Metal Battle starts with national competitions in each of up to 30 countries. The list of countries is changed annually. Depending on the size of the metal scene, up to 400 local bands in each country compete, for a total of up to 4,000 bands. The winners of the play-offs are invited to perform in a final competition, to play for 20 minutes at the W:O:A in front of a crowd of up to 6,000 die-hard metalheads. In the early years, the winners of the finals got a record deal with Nuclear Blast; today it is prize money, equipment, and worldwide recognition for the top five bands. However, every band gets exposure to a Who's Who of the international rock music business in attendance - to music magazine and mainstream media reporters; promoters; record label, festival and concert agents; and, lastly, metal fans and bands from all over the world. Most band performances are recorded and edited to high quality video and are published on different video platforms, including "Metal Battle TV" and "Wacken TV", CDs, DVDs, etc., or are broadcast on television.
Before the Metal Battle, the festival founders had established the "Wacken Evolution Tent" (W.E.T.) in 1997, which, in 2012, was replaced by the much bigger "Bullhead City Circus" tent, where younger bands got the opportunity to rock a big crowd. Some upcoming big bands, such as In Flames, Children of Bodom, Immortal, and Heaven Shall Burn, started at the W.E.T. or other small stages; and later performed on the main stages at Wacken as stars or headliners. Big bands and established artists perform in the Bullhead City Circus, just for the opportunity to be a part of this metal family meeting. Therefore, most metal and hard rock bands in the world, even some of the world`s biggest bands, such as Metallica or Iron Maiden, consider it an honor to get invited to the festival.
Recordings, broadcasts, and video documentaries
Dozens of bands have recorded their live acts at W:O:A on video and sell them on DVD or Blu-ray, and of course audio CDs; bands such as Scorpions, Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Alice Cooper, Twisted Sister, Saxon, Motörhead, Heaven & Hell, Europe, Dream Theater, Nightwish, Rose Tattoo, Ministry, Savatage, Tygers of Pan Tang, Airbourne, Sabaton, Dimmu Borgir, Immortal, Emperor, Running Wild, Circle II Circle, At the Gates, Sacred Reich, Grave Digger, Rage, Danko Jones, Avantasia, Unisonic, Hansen & Friends, Hypocrisy, Die Apokalyptischen Reiter, Bloodbath, Atheist, Exodus, Megaherz, Gorgoroth, God Seed, Atrocity, Degradead, and Arch Enemy. These bands' appearances and the international crowds they draw have made W:O:A famous in the global metal community.
The 2016 Wacken appearance by Iron Maiden set a new German festival streaming record, and was watched by about 550,000 people worldwide, live online, in addition to being broadcast worldwide by ARTE TV.
In 2016, at W:O:A, an entire festival was recorded in °360 VR for the first time ever, by Sam Dunn and a VR Camera team. In 2017, people from about 150 countries used the H360°, V360° VR, HD stream offer by a sponsor to watch, live, online, some concerts, the festival or the village. In 2017, many remote-enabled, fixed-view records, without using a VR headset, were already available on different video platforms, including German public television broadcast services.
Lineups 1990 - current
1990
Wacken Open Air 1990, the first incarnation of the festival, was held on Friday, 24 August and Saturday, 25 August.
1991
Wacken Open Air 1991 was held on Friday, 23 August and Saturday, 24 August.
1992
Wacken Open Air 1992 was held on Friday, 21 August and Saturday, 22 August.
1993
Wacken Open Air 1993 was held from Friday, 20 August to Sunday, 22 August, and was headlined by Doro and Fates Warning.
1994
Wacken Open Air 1994 was held on Friday, 19 August and Saturday, 20 August, and was headlined by Paul Di'Anno's Killers.
1995
Wacken Open Air 1995 was held on Friday, 19 May and Saturday, 20 May, and was headlined by D:A:D and Tiamat.
1996
Wacken Open Air 1996 was held on Friday, 9 August and Saturday, 10 August, and was headlined by Böhse Onkelz.
1997
Wacken Open Air 1997 was held on Friday, 8 August and Saturday, 9 August, and was headlined by Motörhead.
1998
Wacken Open Air 1998 was held on Friday, 7 August and Saturday, 8 August. The festival was headlined by Savatage, JBO, Blind Guardian, and Doro.
1999
Wacken Open Air 1999 was held from Thursday, 5 August to Saturday, 7 August.
2000
Wacken Open Air 2000 was held from Thursday, 3 August to Saturday, 5 August.
2001
Wacken Open Air 2001 was held from Thursday, 2 August to Saturday, 4 August.
2002
Wacken Open Air 2002 was held from Thursday, 1 August to Saturday, 3 August.
2003
Wacken Open Air 2003 was held from Thursday, 31 July to Saturday, 2 August.
2004
Wacken Open Air 2004 was held from Thursday, 5 August to Saturday, 7 August.
2005
Wacken Open Air 2005 was held from Wednesday, 3 August to Saturday, 6 August.
2006
Wacken Open Air 2006 was held from Wednesday, 2 August to Saturday, 5 August.
2007
Wacken Open Air 2007 was held from Wednesday, 1 August to Saturday, 4 August. The festival was headlined by Blind Guardian, Saxon, Iced Earth, Immortal.
2008
Wacken Open Air 2008 was held from Wednesday, 30 July to Saturday, 2 August. The festival was headlined by Iron Maiden, Children of Bodom, Avantasia, and Nightwish.
Exodus' set was filmed for their 2010 live DVD Shovel Headed Tour Machine: Live At Wacken & Other Assorted Atrocities
2009
Wacken Open Air 2009 was held from Wednesday, 29 July to Saturday, 1 August, and marked the festival's 20th year.
Kampfar were originally scheduled to perform on the Party Stage on Saturday, but were forced to cancel their appearance due to personal reasons. Their slot was filled by Onkel Tom.
2010
Wacken Open Air 2010 was held from Wednesday, 4 August to Saturday, 7 August. The festival was headlined by Iron Maiden, Alice Cooper, Mötley Crüe, and Slayer.
Several bands played special sets at the festival. Corvus Corax played a show entitled "Wacken Burns" to close out the main stage performances on Friday.
2011
Wacken Open Air 2011 was held from Thursday, 4 August to Saturday, 6 August. The festival was headlined by Blind Guardian, Judas Priest, Ozzy Osbourne, Motörhead, Airbourne and Sepultura.
2012
Wacken Open Air 2012 was held from Thursday, 2 August to Saturday, 4 August.
The Scorpions announced the W:O:A appearance would be the last festival show in Germany ever, in line of the planned end of their carrier and coming departure, but they changed their mind and continued later due "pressure" of their fans and still go on.
2013
Wacken Open Air 2013 was held from Thursday, 1 August to Saturday, 3 August.
2014
Wacken Open Air 2014 was held from Thursday, 31 July to Saturday, 2 August.
The confirmed bands Death Angel and Iced Earth canceled their summer shows including Wacken Open Air.
2015
Wacken Open Air 2015 was held from Thursday, 30 July to Saturday, 1 August.
2016
Wacken 2016 was held from Thursday 4 August to Saturday 6 August.
There was also a tribute to the late Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, who died on 28 December 2015. The tribute was filmed by Franco-German TV Network Arte and released as a 24-minute music video documentary "Born To Lose, Lived To Win - A Farewell To Lemmy Kilmister." The former members of the band Dio, touring since 2011 as Dio's Disciples after the death of vocalist Dio, performed for the first time with a hologram of him. In total 158 bands performed on eight stages, including Blue Öyster Cult.
2017
Wacken 2017 was held from Thursday 3 August to Saturday 5 August.
First bands announced:
Amon Amarth, Apocalyptica, ASP, Aura Noir, Avantasia, Candlemass, Cypecore, Emperor, Europe, Fates Warning, Grand Magus, Hämatom, Heaven Shall Burn, Kreator, Lacuna Coil, Mayhem (performing De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas), Napalm Death, Orange Goblin, Paradise Lost, Powerwolf, Rage, Saltatio Mortis, Soilwork, Sonata Arctica, Tankard, Trivium, Turbonegro
2018
Wacken 2018 will be held from Thursday 2 August to Saturday 4 August.
First bands announced:
Amaranthe, Amorphis, Arch Enemy, Attic, Bannkreis, Behemoth, Belphegor, Children of Bodom, Deserted Fear, Diablo BLVD, Die Apokalyptischen Reiter, Dimmu Borgir, Dirkschneider, Dokken, Doro, Evil Invaders, Enslaved, Epica, Firewind, In Extremo, In Flames, Judas Priest, Knorkator, Korpiklaani, Long Distance Calling, Madball, Mantar, MR. BIG, Nails, Night Demon, Nightwish, Nocturnal Rites, Oomph!, Riot V, Running Wild, Samael, Sarke, Sepultura, Spoil Engine, The Charm The Fury, Unzucht, Vallenfyre, Vince Neil, W.A.R., Walking Dead on Broadway, Watain
Wacken Rocks
2009
Wacken Rocks South
27-29 August 2009: 9mm, Agathodaimon, Age of Evil, Alestorm, AM/FM, Axxis, Bai Bang, Chrome Molly, Cripper, Debauchery, Der W, Dezperados, Doro, Drone, Edguy, Eisbrecher, Fatal Smile, Feuerschwanz, Five and the Ted One, Flotsam & Jetsam, Frei.Wild, Girlschool, Grave Digger, Hämatom, Hank III & Assjack, Heaven Shall Burn, Herman Frank Band, In Extremo, Krypteria, The New Black, Parity Boot, SAHG, Secrets of the Moon, Slayer, Stainless Steel, Stratovarius, Suidakra, Tribe, U.D.O., Volbeat, and Warpath.
Wacken Rocks Seaside
28-30 August 2009: Age of Evil, Agathodaimon, Alestorm, Axxis, Bai Bang, Cripper, Debauchery, Der W, Dezperadoz, Dirty Deeds, Doro, Edguy, Eisbrecher, Fatal Smile, Five and the Red One, Flotsam & Jetsam, Frei.Wild, Girlschool, Hank III, Herman Frank Band, Heaven Shall Burn, In Extremo, J.B.O, Kneipenterroristen, Krypteria, Mob Rules, Ohrenfeindt, Parity Boot, SAHG, Secrets of the Moon, Slayer, Stratovarius, Suidakra, Glitter, Torfrock, Tribe, U.D.O, Victims of Madness, Volbeat, and Warpath.
Video
- 25 Years Louder Than Hell - The W:O:A Documentary, Aug 2015, DVD/Blu-ray, 3 Eps. 45 min, 1h 5 min, 42 min, original sound: German, English and Spanish with subtitles German or English
See also
- Full Metal Village, a 2007 documentary by Sung Hyung Cho about the village of Wacken and the influence of the festival on it.
- Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, and Global Metal, documentaries by anthropologist Sam Dunn which feature the festival.
References
External links
- Official website
- Official Wacken Radio
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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