WACKEN OPEN AIR 2026 – The anniversary edition of the world’s biggest metal festival is drawing to a close

(Photo Credit: WOA Festival GmbH / Pep Bonet Masterclass)

Wacken, 2nd August 2026: This was the kind of birthday party one could only wish for to mark the 35th anniversary. Once again, the scene’s stars handed the instruments to one another on the stages – figuratively speaking, at least. 85,000 metalheads from all over the world celebrated international bands such as Def Leppard, Judas Priest, Savatage, Hämatom, In Flames, Powerwolf and Sabaton. Running Wild played their very final show ever. And for Sepultura, it was their last ever concert in Germany. In total, more than 200 acts provided the best metal vibes on the twin stages Harder and Faster, as well as on the other seven stages. The fact that the weather also played along, offering nothing but sunshine apart from a few showers, was an additional birthday present for Wacken Open Air. This year, the motto was definitely “More Shine than Rain”.

At the biggest Metal Battle of all time, 31 bands from around the world were able to take the stage in Wacken for the first time. More than 10,000 bands from 102 countries had applied for this extraordinary opportunity this year. In the end, Force from Chile prevailed in both the jury vote and the vote of the metalheads on site. For the first time this year, fans around the world were also able to vote online, giving Sentient Void from the Philippines the win in this category. Promoter Thomas Jensen said that he was not worried about the next generation of metal!

(Photo Credit: WOA Festival GmbH / Pep Bonet Masterclass)

There were no major disruptions to arrivals at W:O:A. This was partly due to the revised and proven arrival concept introduced in 2026, which allowed fans to pitch their tents on the campsites as early as the Sunday before the festival. Many took advantage of this, and by Wednesday, two thirds of guests had already arrived. This made the final arrivals over the course of Thursday very relaxed.

With ground panels and coverings laid across over 100,000 square metres, optimised walkways were ensured. The centrepiece of the innovations: an 850-metre-long reinforced emergency route which, thanks to the close cooperation between authorities, landowners and organisers, will now become a permanent part of W:O:A. Festival guests can also use it as the main connection between the camping areas and Wacken Plaza.

(Photo Credit: WOA Festival GmbH / Pep Bonet Masterclass)

The organisers, responsible authorities and trades drew an entirely positive conclusion at their joint final press conference: “The weather played along this year, we saw some fantastic and emotional performances, including Judas Priest and Saxon, as well as Sepultura, who played their farewell show in Germany. I even shed a tear or two,” Thomas Jensen admits. Holger Hübner adds: “Good weather, all good – that is what we say here. In any case, we are incredibly happy – and not only because of the many big performances. There was also plenty happening on the smaller stages, such as the LGH Clubstage at the Landgasthof Wacken. Once again, the booking team had the right instinct at every level.”

André Jürgens, the third Managing Director of WOA Festival GmbH, says: “The atmosphere across the festival grounds over the past few days was consistently positive. The fans really enjoyed celebrating with us! The improvements to the site were also praised throughout, which made us very happy!”

The emergency services were able to report that, despite midsummer temperatures, the situation remained calm. Our thanks for this go above all to the considerate fans throughout the entire festival. At the time of the press conference, the number of patient transports to Itzehoe Hospital, at around 200, was at a similar level to the average in previous years. The fire brigade was also thoroughly satisfied considering such a calm and sunny festival. The number of callouts remained comparatively low. This left enough time to rescue a roe deer that had become lost in the woods.

The responsible public order office highlighted the consistently well-functioning cooperation with W:O:A and thanked fans and everyone involved for a great anniversary. At the time of the press conference, police leadership was already looking back on eight days of operations during which the number of relevant criminal offences barely increased. Most callouts took place away from the festival grounds. All in all, “Schleswig-Holstein’s third-largest city”, which Wacken becomes during the festival, was once again Germany’s safest. Customs, which among other things inspected compliance with the minimum wage at several businesses, also had no objections this year.

Highlights for 2027
With an epic multimedia show on the main stages, further highlights for the 36th Wacken Open Air, taking place next year from the 28^th July to 31^st July 2027, were announced on the final evening of the festival to the cheers of the attending metal fans.

Electric Callboy will celebrate their Wacken debut after already tearing it up this year with their side project Electric Bassboy. Also joining the line-up are Five Finger Death Punch from the USA, German metal heroes Helloween, Wacken regulars Heaven Shall Burn and power metal band DragonForce, who will play their only European festival appearance of the summer of 2027 with us. The siblings Lzzy and Arejay Hale will come with their band Halestorm, while Alissa White-Gluz will bring Blue Medusa. Napalm Death will also return to Wacken, while Belphegor will bring their Sanctus Bestiam Procession to the stage.

Ticket pre-sale begins on Sunday, 2^nd August, at 8:00 pm CEST via metaltix.com and wacken.com. 

As usual, the Faster Ticket for Wacken Open Air is available as a bundle with a T-shirt for €349. This offer is limited to 10,000 units. After that, the Harder Ticket will be available for €349 for 14 days or while supplies last, before the final ticket category, Louder, becomes available for €364. For the first time, there will be a limited Younger Ticket for 2027 at €279, reserved for all music and festival fans aged 25 and under.

(Photo Credit: WOA Festival GmbH / Pep Bonet Masterclass)

As in this and previous summers, our guests will once again be able to access the campsites from Sunday in 2027. Over the three additional days, they can expect a programme of various activities tailored to the Wacken universe. Access Passes for a stress-free arrival by car, van or motorhome will once again be available from spring 2027. Sales of our Special Camping products will begin at the end of the year. As usual, vouchers for these will already be available at the start of pre-sale. Fans can register now for a mailing list at wacken.com to receive information about all pre-sale details.

In The Bullhead, the official W:O:A magazine, readers will find brand-new interviews with two of the bands announced for 2027: Halestorm and Avatar. There will also be exclusive backstories and a look back at the anniversary edition of Wacken Open Air that has just come to an end – including from a completely different perspective via Pep Bonnet’s Photo Masterclass. In addition, The Bullhead spoke with vocalist Alissa White-Gluz at the festival, who will take the Wacken stage next year with her band Blue Medusa. The Bullhead will be published on Sunday morning (2^nd August 2026) as a free e-paper in German and English.

36th Wacken Open Air 2027
28^th July – 31^st July 2027

Bands confirmed for 2027 so far in alphabetical order: Avatar, Beast in Black, Belphegor, Between Two Worlds, Blue Medusa, Carnifex, Cavalera Conspiracy, Children of Bodom, Creeper, Crypta, Dark Tranquillity, Dethklok, DragonForce, Edguy, Electric Callboy, Feuerschwanz, Five Finger Death Punch, Gaerea, Halestorm, Hammerfall, Heaven Shall Burn, Heavens Gate, Helloween, Hiraes, Imminence, Jinjer, John 5, John Bush (Anthrax Show), Kanonenfieber, Knocked Loose, Make them Suffer, Malevolence, Metal Church, Mittel Alta, Napalm Death, Norther, Overkill, Primordial, Seven Blood, Shadow of Intent, Sylosis, Tailgunner, The Browning, The Narrator, The New Roses, Towards the Sinister, Tyketto, U.D.O., Victorious and Witch Club Satan.

See you in Wacken – Rain or Shine!
www.wacken.com
Current image and video material is available in the press portal at wacken.com.

WACKEN OPEN AIR 2027
Weitere Informationen unter:
wacken.com und metaltix.com

(Photo Credit: WOA Festival GmbH / Pep Bonet Masterclass)

About Wacken Open Air:

Wacken Open Air is the largest heavy metal festival in the world. Having started with 800 visitors in 1990, it now annually draws up to 85,000 fans from all over the world to Schleswig-Holstein, turning the 2,000-strong community of Wacken into the centre of the international metal scene for several days. The organiser is WOA Festival GmbH. Wacken Open Air 2027 will take place from 28 July to 31 July 2027.