Get your festival guide to Wacken Open Air 2026. View lineup, set times, venue map, and connect with friends attending. Wacken Open Air (/ ˈvɑːkən /, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a heavy metal music festival, held yearly since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.

Understanding the Context

It has been called the world's biggest metal festival, or the " Mecca of heavy metal". [1][2][3] The four-day event involves around 200 bands, is attended by around 85,000 metalheads from more ... Wacken (German pronunciation: [ˈvakn̩] ⓘ) is a municipality near the town of Itzehoe in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Wacken was first mentioned in 1148, but there were probably some settlements before, which is proven by the trove of Germanic artefacts.

Key Insights

Today, Wacken is famous for annually staging one of the world's biggest open air heavy metal festival, "Wacken Open Air", which has hosted ... Wacken ist eine Gemeinde im Kreis Steinburg in Schleswig-Holstein. Sie ist weltweit bekannt durch das jährlich Anfang August hier stattfindende Musikfestival Wacken Open Air. Every year in early August, a small village in northern Germany transforms into a metalhead paradise. Wacken Open Air (W:O:A) isn’t just a festival—it’s a pilgrimage for metal fans worldwide.

Final Thoughts

What began as a small gathering in 1990 with just 800 people has evolved into the largest and most legendary metal festival on the planet, attracting over 85,000 fans annually. Wacken Open Air: How The World’s Biggest Metal Festival Became A Phenomenon Telekom Wacken Cup Metal, football and community – at the Telekom Wacken Cup, worlds collide and merge into something entirely unique ...