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Wacken Open Air – A Paradise for Metal Fans

August 5, 2016

Wacken Open Air is an annual highlight on the hard rock and heavy metal calendar. In 2016 legendary acts like Iron Maiden, Whitesnake, Saxon, Foreigner and Blind Guardian are taking part.

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Image: ICS Festival Service

Wacken Open Air – A Magnet for Metal Fans

It started in 1990 in a gravel pit near Wacken with just six bands and 800 fans. Today, it draws people from the world over to Germany. Thomas Jensen and Holger Hübner came up with the original idea after a few beers. They made their breakthrough in 1997. For the first time, attendance at the open-air concert exceeded 10,000. Now, 80,000 metalheads converge each year on the 'holy cow pasture' outside Wacken, a village in Schleswig-Holstein with only 1,800 inhabitants.