‘Sun-Kissed’ Wacken Open Air 2024 Attracts 85,000

Wacken Open Air 2024
A familiar sight at Wacken Open Air: Fans surfing the crowd. This year, they did so in mostly sunny weather. (Photo by Axel Heimken/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Wacken Open Air 2024 drew to a close Aug. 3, having welcomed 85,000 metal fans, who celebrated with a lineup led by Korn, Amon Amarth, Scorpions, Architects, In Extremo, Suzi Quatro, and Blind Guardian.

The weather in Germany’s far north, where the small town of Wacken is located, was mostly sunny – a big relief following last year’s unrelenting rainfalls, which even forced the festival team to impose a travel ban to the festival site.

This year, a new arrival concept made it possible for fans to enter the camping areas from the Sunday before the official start, allowing them to breathe in the Wacken air for almost a full week.

“Our new access pass system was extremely well received by the fans. Not least because of this, there were no traffic jams on arrival! We will build on this next year,” commented promoter Holger Hübner.

Fans who didn’t secure a ticket for Wacken Open Air 2024 could watch a live stream of the festival on the MagentaTV channels of German telco giant Deutsche Telekom, which just signed another four-year agreement as the festival’s live streaming partner.

A total of 28 million viewers watched the livestream (live content views), according to a press release, with the broadcasting time reaching up to 14 hours per day. More than 120 concerts were available via two livestreams.

Last day of the Wacken Open Air
The unveiling of the Wacken 2025 dates and initial lineup traditionally happens on the last day of each year’s festival. This year’s unveiling features a drone show. (Photo by Axel Heimken/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Emergency services, the fire department, and the authorities also drew a positive conclusion. The former recorded around 3,500, mainly minor, incidents that required treatment over the entire duration of the festival. They especially pointed out the assistance of security in the stage pits, where no injuries occurred, and praised the cooperation between the various trades and authorities.

“We can’t stress it enough,” added promoter Thomas Jensen, “we have the best fans in the world! All the better that we were able to experience a sun-kissed W:O:A with them this year with countless great concerts. For us, it was an all-round successful celebration of the global metal family, which we naturally want to surpass next year.”

As is tradition at Wacken Open Air, the first acts for the following year’s edition are announced on the final night. Wacken Open Air 2025, will take place July 30-Aug. 2, with Gojira, Papa Roach, Machine Head, Saltatio Mortis, and more already confirmed.

Presales began Aug. 4, with prices remaining unchanged compared to this year at €333. 10,000 limited tickets that come with a t-shirt were already sold out at the time of writing.

Subscribe to Pollstar HERE