PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Wacken has always been the festival I had longed to go. I had booked the festival/travel package back at end of November (2011) just as it sold out so to say it was a long time coming was a bit of an understatement.
The line up was one of the main reasons I had picked it as there was bands like Machine Head, Ministry, Testament that I really wanted to see along with The Scorpions last German open air show to keep Neil happy amongst other bands.
There was hardly any clashes for us which is a bonus as well as a nice change. All the other Euro Festival line-ups I had looked at would be clash city! Yes, they had more bands I wanted to see however the clashes where horrendous when the times finally got announced!
So after the long wait we have finally been, seen and yes, got the t-shirts and in my case a hoodie as well. What do I make of it?
The biggest issue at the festival was the bad weather lol, this cannot be helped! The organisers did everything they possibly could to try and minimise the disruption and flooding.
They had been seen trying to pump out extra water from the site and even delaying the opening stage times to see if they could reduce the levels., spreading bark. They had tractors out trying to flatten the mud down but with that amount of people traipsing around it was a thankless task.
However, more places that provide cover for people to shelter under would have helped make a bit of a difference especially on the Friday when the rain wasn’t too bad.
Criticisms
No signs – no signs saying where to go when you arrive and trying to find the way to the main areas etc. You just follow the folk in front and hope you land up in the right place. You can only get to main areas through the campsites, a direct route would have been better esp when it was really muddy.
Crowded – Obviously, it is going to be very busy as it is still the biggest metal festival in the world! However, I honestly thought the main areas would have been much larger esp the main arena and beer garden, when packed it was over crowded and we never seen it to its full affect, so it makes getting from stage to stage hard to do.
The biggest niggle for me was ‘NOT’ being searched on way into the site or from the campsites into the Wackinger Village/Thrash of the Titans areas! BUT getting searched EVERY time you go in the Bullhead Circus Tent area and the Main Arena, grrrrrrrrrrrr.
Which to me is bizarre and a waste of fair bit of time when you’re trying to get from one area to another esp when it was raining and folk are trying to shelter under the canopy and not moving to let us people that want to go see the band that is on through :\
Positives
Huge range food/drink/merch stalls – food wise it has a great variety of options for everyone regardless of veggie/vegan, halal, food allergies etc. Merch and stalls, omg there was too much to choice from and I had lots of fun browsing around, esp in the Outlet store where you get great t-shirts and other stuff from 3 euros upwards!
Value for Money – great prices for a festival, not overly expensive but you got a lot of food for your money and all the stuff I tired was yummy! Drink wise you got a Euro back when you returned a cup or bottle and 3 Euros back when you returned a stein, which made it very reasonable indeed, unless you did what I did and collected different cups/steins and brought them home!
Atmosphere – fantastic laid back party atmosphere, families are there as well as groups of teens’ and the more adult metal heads. Folk having a ball even during the thunder, lightning and the torrential rain!!
Stewards/Security/Staff – all well informed, courtesy and helpful
Cleanliness – the site was always clean if you minus off the mud. Plenty of recycling points and rubbish bins around and folk actually used them as well as the dedicated clean up crews that were always going around.
Line up – for me it was great I only had 1 real clash and a few over laps, where as I normally have a lot of clashes. Definitely, something there for everyone regardless of musically tastes.
Summary:
All in all we had a great time and I would go back to Wacken again but at the moment the line up isn’t that strong of me so will keep an eye on the line-up to see who else gets announced before it sells out! I would recommend this festival for all types of festival goer’s.
Wacken website
To view Neil’s pictures that he took at Wacken click here
