Advertisement

Thousands head-bang their way to Wacken

Author thumbnail
Thousands head-bang their way to Wacken
Photo: DPA

Black-clad music fans flocked the world's biggest open air heavy metal festival on Thursday – while it also emerged that the Rock am Ring would continue at the Nürburgring for the next two years after months of worry.

Advertisement

At least 75,000 heavy metal fans from 35 different countries descended on the tiny northern German town of Wacken, for the world famous Wacken Open Air Festival which will see more than 130 bands on seven stages.

Music runs from Thursday night until Saturday when legendary German rockers Scorpions will headline the main stage. Other big names will join them, such as Oomph!, Saxon and Bosshoss.

“We had some showers in the morning but now the sun is shining,” said a Wacken spokeswoman on Thursday.

Check out pictures of Wacken and Haltestelle Woodstock.

Further east on the Polish border Europe's biggest non-commercial festival – Haltestelle Woodstock – also kicked off on Thursday, with 60 artists and bands playing for three nights of free music.

German President Joachim Gauck with his Polish counterpart Bronislaw Komorowski, to open the festival which has been running since 1995 and for the past few years has been held in the border town of Kostrzyn, just over an hour away from Berlin.

Music fans further south in the country also had reason to celebrate this weekend as Rock am Ring festival organisers announced that although its location – the Nürburgring – recently went bankrupt, the festival would still be held there for the coming two years.

And now, “months of worry can finally be put out of the way,” festival organiser Marek Lieberberg said on Wednesday.

DPA/DAPD/The Local/jcw

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also