- Festival travel this year is more stress-free
The legendary Wacken Open Air is gearing up for another round. Heavy-metal fans from around the globe are once again descending upon the small town in Schleswig-Holstein to rock out from July 31st to August 3rd. After last summer's poor weather caused a massive chaos and ultimately a complete entry stop, a new traffic management plan seems to be working smoothly this year.
According to the police, the Sunday's start of the journey to Wacken Open Air has been "significantly less stressful than last year," the Itzehoe directorate announced on the morning of July 29th. The additional travel day on Sunday and a new traffic concept are credited for this. By the time of the announcement, 15,000 visitors had already arrived with no significant delays. Although Monday and Tuesday are the main travel days, no traffic chaos is expected. The Wacken homepage also reports that Sunday's travel went "absolutely smoothly."
Wacken: The new concept seems to be working
So far, the police's assessment appears to be accurate. The NDR reports in a live blog about the festival that around 23,000 people had arrived by approximately 1:30 PM, which is about a third of the expected visitors. According to a police spokesperson, there are hardly any traffic jams and it's "no comparison to previous years." On the official Instagram account of the festival, organizers still urge followers to keep up with the police's social media channels for real-time traffic updates.
As always, the 33rd Wacken Open Air will feature some of the biggest names in heavier musical genres. Among them are Scorpions, Korn, Amon Amarth, Blind Guardian, Architects, and In Extremo.
Spontaneous attendees have long since lost their official chance to get tickets. This year's festival tickets sold out in just around 4.5 hours. "Especially after the difficult start of the festival this summer, where part of our metal family couldn't join in, we appreciate it more than ever that the community stands with us and sticks together," it was stated in August 2023.
The festival-goers are experiencing significantly less stress while traveling to Wacken Open Air compared to previous years. According to the festival's official Instagram account, the arrival process has been running "absolutely smoothly."
