Photo Credit: ICS Festival Service GmbH
The Scene
It's been dubbed The Mecca of Heavy Metal Culture. For three days in August, the population of the tiny town of Wacken swells from 2,000 to 75,000 for this annual gathering of German metalheads. This monster of a festival started off small in 1990 as a showcase for local bands, but has become a juggernaut of the metal festival scene.
Festival Poster
2018 Artist Lineup
Hatebreed
- 2Cellos
- Acoustic Steel
- Act of Defiance
- Adler’s Appetite
- Alestorm
- Alfahanne
- Alien Weaponry
- Amaranthe
- Amorphis
- Arch Enemy
- Asrock
- Attic
- Backyard Babies
- Bannkreis
- Behemoth
- Belphegor
- Betontod
- Black Inhale
- Blessed Hellride
- Bloodsucking Zombies f. Outer Space
- Blues Pills
- Bömbers
- Bonfire
- Cannibal Corpse
- Children of Bodom
- Chuan-Tzu
- Clawfinger
- Clowns
- Converge
- Da Rocka & Da Waitler
- Danzig
- Das Pack
- Der Wahnsinn
- Deserted Fear
- Destruction
- Dezperadoz
- Diablo Blvd
- Die Apokalyptischen Reiter
- Die Happy
- Dimmu Borgir
- Dirkschneider
- Dirt-A-Gogo
- Dokken
- Dool
- Doro
- Dust Bolt
- Dying Fetus
- Ensiferum
- Enslaved
- Epica
- Erik Cohen
- Eskimo Callboy
- Evil Invaders
- Extrabreit
- Feuerschwanz
- Firewind
- Fischer-Z
- Fish
- Fozzy
- Fro-Tee Slips
- Gaahl’s Wyrd
- Ghost
- Gojira
- Gruesome
- Hate Squad
- Hatebreed
- Heathen Apostles
- Helloween – Pumpkins United
- Helmet
- Herrschaft
- In Extremo
- In Flames
- Ivan Ivanovich & The Kreml Krauts
- Jack Broadbent
- Jasad
- Jesper Binzer
- John Diva and the Rockets of Love
- Judas Priest
- Kellermensch
- Knorkator
- Korpiklaani
- Leaves’ Eyes
- Lee Aaron
- Long Distance Calling
- Lovebites
- Madball
- Mambo Kurt
- Manilla Road
- Mantar
- Monstagon
- Mr. Big
- Nazareth
- Night Demon
- Nightwish
- Nocturnal Rites
- Ondt Blod
- Onkel Tom
- Oomph!
- Otto & Die Friesenjungs
- Persefone
- Pikes Edge
- Plainride
- Rezet
- Riot V
- Rogers
- Rose Bogey’s
- Running Wild
- Samael
- Sarke
- Schandmaul
- Sepultura
- Skindred
- Skyline
- Soen
- Solstafir
- Sons of Apollo
- Spoil Engine
- Steel Panther
- Stiff Little Fingers
- The Bloodstrings
- The Charm The Fury
- The Fright
- The Waltons
- Toxic Holocaust
- Traitor
- Tremonti
- Trollfest
- Unzucht
- Vallenfyre
- Vince Neil
- Vogelfrey
- W:O:A Firefighters
- W.A.R.
- Walking Dead on Broadway
- Watain
- Wintersun
- Wirtz
- Witch Taint
- Zeal & Ardor