Wacken | Budget Bucket List

Wacken Open Air

Not in the story-mood? Scroll down for the Quick Budget Fact Overview: an itemized information summary of Wacken! ↓

Photos by Miles Watson Photography

I can hardly believe my own words when saying it out loud: "The time has finally come in my life to have visited the Holy Ground." No, by all means, I’m not referring to Jerusalem… I visited that place too already, and yeah sure, it was fine. Bit tense, I’d say, but good food and that wall is alright. I am talking about the real deal though, emerged from unity and conjoined passions instead of ongoing struggle. The holy through the anti-holy, kingdom of the loud and the heavy, common ground of a community transcending borders and nations, gathered together for a few blessed days on that otherwise rather insignificant location hidden in northern Germany. I’m of course referring to Wacken Open Air. A place I firmly believed I would visit one day since my early teenage years of heavy metal. From the moment the boy I had a mild crush on in high school gave me a mix tape containing the grunts of Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth and Children of Bodom, which instantly and irreversibly replaced the Spice Girls. From those late-night VHS recordings of ‘Wet and Wild,’ broadcasting live footage of bands like Slipknot riling up an already wild and overheated crowd to savage levels I didn’t even know existed. From those years of frantically reading through the festival reports of Aardschok Metal Magazine, feeding the growing desire to be a tiny element of Wacken’s crowd one day.... to the moment I finally arrived at the world’s biggest metal festival. Location of my 35th birthday. A milestone.

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How it all started…

The world’s biggest metal festival? Every metalhead’s Holy Ground? That would’ve been hard to imagine roughly 35 years ago, when a group of young pals and band mates met in a restaurant to shape the idea of an open-air festival in the gravel pit of a tiny village called Wacken. A grand idea, with a long and rocky road ahead of it. The first edition attracted 800 fans. A modest number that slowly but steadily grew over the years to come, partly due to a focus on interesting band reunions and the attraction of well-known artists, partly due to its smooth organisation. However, this didn’t mean that a financial compensation for the investments made could be guaranteed… the debts (for which their parents provided guarantees) broke the spirits of several initial founding members, who saw no choice but to leave the organisation. After a dire and seemingly never-ending epoch of losses and budget shortages, 1994 marked the year in which the festival finally broke even for the very first time. Fast-forward to 1996, when a new location had to be found and additional land acquired due to an ever-growing wave of metalheads flooding the little village. An ongoing cycle that received an extra boost in the late 90s, when (unlike many other festivals) Wacken successfully (crowd)surfed the wave of the upcoming era of the world wide web, allowing it to spread its fame on a global level while feeding its cult status. Slowly but surely Wacken became much more than just a straightforward event for heavy music and an international meeting point for its devotees… it evolved into a symbol, a statement, yes, maybe even a place of pilgrimage.

How’s it going?

The 80,000 tickets of the 2023 edition sold out in a record timeframe of 6 hours… before the 2022 festival had even properly ended. 30% of the visitors travel across the world to attend the festival, some by means of the Metal Train, others with fully organized travel packages from all over Europe. The attendees can enjoy over 150 different bands performing on no less than 8 stages, spread out over 240 hectares which are encircled by 45km of fence. Instead of the initial 1-day festival setup, the event kept adding extra days until the current 4 full days of music (no day tickets available). To serve the metalheads’ everyday needs, the festival grounds are equipped with over 1,300 toilets, 500 showers and a 1km beer pipeline allowing for 10,000 litres of beer to be tapped every hour. The main beer served is Wacken Premium Pilsner, the festival’s own beer brand. 2,200 trucks with equipment are needed to bring in all the supplies. Wacken employs a whopping 5000 staff members, consisting of 1800 security guards, 900 paramedics, 400 police officers and 250 fire fighters et cetera. 25 electricians are responsible for a 12 megawatts output, matching the needs of a decent-sized town. Besides the emergence of a festival the size of a temporary metal-city, Wacken organizes a large number of concerts and side-events, as well as projects such as the charitable Wacken Foundation, Wacken Radio and the Full Metal Church. The Metal Battle allows newcomer bands to gain a stage as well as a label contract, whereas the biggest names of the industry seek to use Wacken as their stage for published live releases… as Wacken shows are a milestone in their career, an achievement not needing any further clarification.

During my 2022 attendance I saw Corey Taylor, frontman of the illustrious Slipknot, wipe away a tear when sharing that after 27 years of band history, they finally reached the highlight of headlining Wacken. A message I not only deeply felt, but also celebrated with the best show I ever attended by this band. To me, this was a key moment of the festival, a crown on the 25-year build-up of all that I wished or could possibly hope for. I made it. They made it. Wacken united us, if only for that moment.

Band performances I attended on the 2022 edition: Slipknot, Epica, Onslaught, Avantasia, Dead Label, Gravedigger, Rose Tattoo, Dirk Schneider (Udo), Amon Amarth, Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons, Gwar, Judas Priest, Therapy?, Me and That Man, Behemoth, Clutch, Stratovarius, At the Gates, Wind Rose, Soen, Orden Ogan, Life of Agony, Gluecifer, As I Lay Dying, Danko Jones, Arch Enemy, Ill Nino, Lordi, Perturbator.

The 2023 edition is unfortunately sold out. Make sure to stay tuned for the 2024 ticket sales.

In the meantime, dream away by the following documentaries covering the essence of Wacken, available online:

Disclaimer: This website is called Budget Bucket List. That said, I would not qualify this festival as a budget activity. However, as it can most certainly be qualified as every metalhead's main bucket list item, it deemed necessary to receive coverage.

Quick Budget Fact Overview

Tickets available:

Fast Ticket: Limited to 10.000 tickets; comes with a free T-shirt.
Regular Hard Ticket: Limited to 65.000 tickets.

There are no group or day tickets. The tickets include access to the camping grounds, free use of showers / toilets and camping next to your car. Even though the festival officially takes 4 days, the campground is opened a few days before and after the event.

The ticket can be bought online. Upon arrival at the festival you exchange your digital ticket for a wristband, which you are required to wear throughout the festival. The wristband can be topped up with money to pay for your expenses during the festival. This can be done at the designated top-up booths on the festival terrain, paid by debit- or creditcard. Warning: During my visit this process was not at all smooth. The line to exchange the digital ticket for a wristband was several hours long, during which visitors not only missed out on the bands performing, but were also unable to pay for any drinks.

Transport

By Car: Wacken can be reached by Highway 7 and 23. You’ll find signs leading to Wacken far ahead, which provide the recommended route. Keep in mind that the traffic situation in the area has been changed due to the festival and your GPS can lead you into the wrong direction… therefore, follow the signs instead. For easy drop-offs, there is a ‘Kiss and Ride’ zone in Gribbohm. Warning: During my visit, there was a non-moving traffic jam to the festival terrain of about 5km long.
By Public Transportation: In Germany, trains are the most efficient form of public transportation (I found most budget tickets via the Trainline app). The most significant junctions are Hamburg and Itzehoe. Budget intercity bus line Flixbus provides connections to Hamburg as well, from where you need to take the train to Itzehoe. From the Itzehoe train station, there is a paid shuttle to the festival, as well as a local bus line that can leave you in the area. You need to book the shuttle tickets in advance, which can be done here. Warning: As there was a 5km-long traffic jam to the festival, I had to walk the last 5km with all my luggage to not miss out on the bands of the first day. You might want to pack accordingly to not have to drag too much luggage along this ‘hike.’
Alternative Transportation: The Metal Train collects metalheads in between München and Essen to lead them to the festival. Bus journeys within Germany are organized by Mondial Travel. A wide variety of organized bus and even airplane journeys from different countries to Wacken can be found on this page of the Wacken website.
Hitchhiking: is rather uncommon in Germany, but it has a decent success rate. There’s always a risk, but personally (as a solo female traveler) I had no issues in this country. More information at Hitchwiki. Alternatively, the Blablacar app offers paid rides that can be booked ahead.
Airport: Nearby airports include Hamburg Airport (HAM) and Kiel Airport (KEL).
Walking: Within the village of Wacken, walking is the best and (due to the sheer number of visitors blocking the streets) almost only way around.

The Sleeping Situation

Camping: is included in your Wacken ticket (also for caravans and motorhomes). You are unable to choose your own campsite. Upon arrival, Wacken employees will guide you to an available campsite, based on your group-size. It is possible to park your car next to your camping spot. The campsites are equipped with showers, toilets and light poles. Electricity is not available, unless you’re staying at the Camper Park or Full Metal Army Camp. You are allowed to use a power generator, as long as you don’t bother other campsite visitors with the noise. Open fires are forbidden, but gas bottles and grills are allowed. For a fee it is possible to use services such as rental tents, plots with electrical connections and private rental toilets (on the Bauer Uwes Garten campsite only). Special camping areas include the Wheels of Steel (for metalheads with disabilities), Camperpark Wacken (family-oriented; electricity parcels), Camping Only Area (no vehicles allowed), the World Metal Camp (visitors without vehicle; international exchange) and the Full Metal Army Camp (exclusively for Wacken Fanclub members).
Hostels / Hotels: You can book the Mosthel, which is a container hotel in the close proximity of the festival ground, or the more quiet Residenz Evil.

Budget Bites

Food at the Festival: There are plenty of food stands at the festival and on the campgrounds, offering a wide variety of meals and cuisines. Vegans and vegetarians are catered to. You can pay with your wristband (no cash allowed). As is usually the case at music festivals, these meals are rather overpriced. The breakfast tents at the campsite have unreasonably long waiting lines, so I recommend self-catering.
Groceries: Wacken provides minimarket-tents on the festival and camping terrains, but these are very expensive. Therefore, many festival attendees opt for the 20-30 minutes walk to Netto and/or Tchibo supermarkets, which are located next to one another. You are allowed to bring these supplies (incl. alcohol) to the campsites. Keep in mind that you are allowed to bring food into the festival area, but drinks in glass packaging are not allowed. Free drinking water is available on the festival grounds.

At The Festival

Festival Layout: The Stage Area is divided into several areas. ‘The Infield – Our Holy Wacken Land’ contains the two main stages with the biggest acts: The Faster and Harder Stages. The ‘Wacken Center’ includes the Louder Stage, as well as the Rainbow Bar, food stalls and sanitary facilities. The ‘Wackinger Village’ is a Middle Ages themed area containing the Wackinger Stage (pagan/folk metal). ‘Bullhead City’, with its W.E.T. Stage and Headbangers Stage, connects the festival with the camping area. The ‘Camping Plaza’ is connected to the campsites and features a Farmers Market, Metal Market as well as the Welcome to the Jungle Stage and the Wasteland Stage. The Wacken app provides a map.
Running Order: This is published on the website shortly ahead of the festival, as well as on the app. The app allows you to select your favorite bands and create a private program, of which you’ll receive reminders throughout the festival.

Mama Said

Safety: Germany has a relatively low crime rate and incidents during the Wacken Open Air festival are minimal. As always, use your common sense like everywhere else. Don’t leave valuables visible in your car or tent and keep an eye on your personal belongings.
Tap Water: is provided on both the campground and festival grounds, free of charge.
Simcard: Within the EU, it is possible to enjoy international roaming without additional costs (given you use an EU simcard). If you want to buy a German simcard, you can choose between the main providers Telekom, Vodafone and O2. The cheapest deals are generally offered by Vodafone. Make sure to buy your simcard at the phone shops (passport needed), kiosks or gas stations… avoid the airport, as it's notoriously overpriced.

Germany Facts

Capital: Berlin
Language: German
Population: ± 83.2 mln (Wacken: ± 1,840)
Sq km: ± 357,588 km² (Wacken: ± 7.1 km²)
Currency: Euro (€ - EUR)
Electricity Outlet: F (C & E) / 230 V / 50 Hz. Check here.
Country Code Phone: +49
Emergency Phone: 112 (fire / medical), 110 (police)
Visa: Germany is a part of the EU and Schengen Area. Find more info about Schengen visas here. Easy applications can be arranged via here.
Vaccinations: None
Climate: Temperate Oceanic (Cfb)
High season: Summer / Wacken Open Air

Next?

National Destinations Close By: Hamburg, Bremen, Lübeck, Kiel, Flensburg, Rostock.
International Destinations Close By: Denmark, Poland, The Netherlands, Czechia, Belgium, Luxemburg, Austria, Switzerland.

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