The legendary Wacken Open Air, the biggest Metal festival in the world, will take place between the 3rd and the 5th of August, welcoming once again 75.000 metalheads that will be traveling from every corner of the planet to the small town of Wacken (population: 1800), located in the northern part of Germany. The lineup for this 28th edition is probably their strongest ever, not only by the large number of fantastic bands but also by the very special shows that will take place there and will hardly be repeated anywhere else, making this a unique experience for everyone coming there. The billing is a never-ending list of fan-favorite bands, including Alice Cooper, Europe, Marilyn Manson, Megadeth, Status Quo, Ugly Kid Joe, Volbeat, Morbid Angel, Napalm Death, Amon Amarth, Avantasia, Emperor, Heaven Shall Burn, Kreator, Sanctuary, Mayhem playing their most infamous album De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, Max and Iggor Cavalera playing their Return to Roots show,
Apocalyptica with a special set that will celebrate the 20 years of their album Plays Metallica By Four Cellos, Grave Digger playing a best of set from their Middle Ages Trilogy, that consists of their album Tunes of War, Knights of the Cross and Excalibur, and many, many more amazing bands, with a special remark to their usual thursday-night special, aptly named A Night To Remember, where Accept will be playing a very special show that will consist of 3 parts. Along with a set will cover several of their many hits, it will serve as the live debut of some songs from their new album, that will be released at Wacken on the 3rd of August and will only be available for the rest of the world on the following day. After that, their lead guitarist Wolf Hoffmann will also be playing some classical songs from his album Headbangers Symphony with the support of the Czech National Symphonic Orchestra. Finally, Accept will also be joined by the Orchestra for the grand finale, with promises of an amazing multimedia show to accompany. All of this in an enormous festival area that will include, as usual, a Medieval Area, lots and lots of merchandise tents and even more food and drink areas with an enormous variety of choices. And, of course, 8 stages to support the more than 120 bands that will be playing! This year, the Main Stages area will be improved and the newly-renamed Harder, Faster and Louder stages will be receiving an improvement that will allow for the people in the back to have a better sound experience.
But there is more! This year, Wacken has also been working on all the festival area, bulldozing the area and installing a huge drainage system in order to improve the conditions of the whole festival ground and reduce the amount of water and mud in case of heavy rain. Furthermore, this year the tickets already include free access to all the toilets, showers and water points, and the early access to the camping ground (on monday and tuesday) will also now be free of charges.

So, we've got a lot of amazing bands, some very unique shows, great facilities, lots of improvements and an organization that has listened to all the fans and worked their best to provide everyone with the best experience ever at the most magical of all the Metal festivals. This is the Heavy Metal Heaven, the Wacken Holy Grounds... there's no place like this one, there's no fun like the one we have here, with all the crazy guys and girls, partying 24-7.

Rain or Shine, mud or no mud, Wacken will always be THE Festival To Remember! Grab your tickets, brace yourselves and enjoy this fantastic ride! WACKEEEEENNNN!!!!!



"In the past 3 years we've been bringing you photos and reports from Wacken Open Air, the most amazing metal festival we have ever seen. My first time there was in 2007 and it was the fulfillment of a dream to finally be at the Heavy-Metal Mecca, watching shows from bands I'd never be able to see here in Portugal. The experience was overwhelming and made want for more, so there I was again 2 years later and then again on the following year. But Wacken was also responsible for one thing - it was there that I discovered my love for concert photography. So, I was twice in debt to Wacken when in 2014 I was able to return there not only as a fan but also as a photographer. These past 3 years I have been so much lucky for being able to return there and relive this wonderful, unique experience, that I can't thank Wacken enough for letting me - and ShowMeYourMetal - be a part of this most amazing festival. That being said, I have to stress that this is really a unique festival like no other, with a unique vibe that I haven't found anywhere else. "Rain or Shine" is one of their mottos, and it's really well chosen. Rain or Shine, everyone will have here, year after year, the time of their lives. The most amazing stories. The most wonderful memories. And, of course, the most fantastic concerts!
Thank you so very, very much, Wacken! Hope to be there with all of you once again this year! Rain or Shine!"

-- Hugo Delgado | ShowMeYourMetal.net



Here are some of the more than 120 bands that will be playing at Wacken Open Air this year: