This week, Wacken Open Air, the world's biggest dedicated metal festival, will descend upon the Schleswig-Holstein region of Northern Germany for four days of heavy metal heaven, celebrating its 35th anniversary with a lineup boasting over 150 bands. With headliners Def Leppard, Judas Priest and Sabaton overseeing a stacked bill, the festival announced a total sell-out last week, meaning 85,000+ metalheads will be let loose on the fesitval's (un)holy grounds. Last year, Metal Hammer spoke to Wacken co-founder Thomas Jensen about how the idea for a fun local festival for friends ended up becoming one of the biggest annual events in the metal calendar.
When Thomas Jensen co-founded Wacken Festival in 1990, the idea was simple. Book a few bands, get some beers in, and invite some mates to have the time of their lives. Thirty-five years later, the idea is still the same, except those ‘mates’ have ballooned to 85,000 metal fans.
