W:O:A 2023 is over. I intended to attend the festival but I could not get my press pass. So I have followed the fest online – through live streams and social media. The festival will probably will be remembered by the severe weather conditions it has suffered. Rain in Wacken is far from extraordinary. However, this year it has received more rainfall than before. What it worse, the extreme rainfall hit the area when it was most vulnerable – just a couple of days before the festival. The ground was oversaturated with water and utility vehicles and the festival campers easily turned the ground into an unnavigable swamp. The cars had to be towed with heavy-duty tractors most of the time.
In these extreme conditions, Wacken organizers constantly kept the attendees posted on social media. The first measure was to stop incoming vehicle traffic to the festival grounds. Fans were asked to come to the area with mass transportation. As it turned out, it was not enough. The next day saw the most extreme measure taken by W:O:A so far: Do not come at all! It was stated that the Holy Ground could not host any more people safely and that no-one else will be admitted to the festival, nor the Wacken village in order not to block the traffic.
The expected turnout for this year’s festival 85.000 people as always. These measures allowed only around 50.000 people to attend. The people who have been turned down are to be compensated for their tickets as declared by W:O:A management.
Despite all this turmoil, the festival was fun and people enjoyed many great acts. I tried to watch as many bands live online as possible and my favourite performances were Helloween, Belakor, Dropkick Murphys, Burning Witches, Hammerfall, Kreator, Pennywise, Deicide, Bloodbath, Possessed, Ensiferum and Alestorm.
Wacken Turk 