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Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a heavy metal music festival, held annually since 1989 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all styles and subgenres of hard rock and metal are represented and hosted. It is now one of the largest heavy metal festivals in the world and one of the largest open-air festivals in Germany. Between 2011 and 2018, the number of attendees was around 85,000, 75,000 of whom were paying visitors. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were no 2020 and 2021 editions of Wacken Open Air. History Background The idea for Wacken Open Air was conceived in 1989 when Thomas Jensen and Holger Hübner visited a restaurant together. Both lived in Wacken and were friends, Jensen played the electric bass with Rock cover band Skyline. From its beginnings until 1992, the band was composed of Ines Jeske from Vaale (vocals), Thomas Jensen from Wacken (bass), Peter Huhn from Wacken (electric guitar), Dennis Harman from Itzehoe (keyboard), and Andreas Göser from Wacken (drums). Skyline was one of the first regional Metal and Rock cover bands at that time. The band was regionally known, working its way from appearances in village pubs and gigs at biker meetings up to an appearance as supporting band of "Extrabreit". Hübner was a disc jockey with a focus on Rock music and Heavy Metal. Jensen and Hübner developed the idea to organise an open-air concert in a gravel pit in Wacken and persuaded Skyline drummer Andreas Göser and Jörg Jensen, Thomas Jensen's brother, to help make it happen. Until then, the pit had already served as a meeting venue for up to 3,000 members of biker club 'No Mercys', it was therefore perfectly suited for their plans and also presented an opportunity to attract motorcycle fans. From the beginning, it was clear that the focus of the event would be on Rock and Metal and that, in contrast to other single-day festivals such as Monsters of Rock or Super Rock in Mannheim, there would also be camping grounds. Early years and initial development The first two-day festival took place in the gravel pit on 24 and 25 August 1990 and barely had 800 visitors. The performing bands all hailed from Germany, and apart from Skyline, bands like 5th Avenue, Motoslug, Sacred Season, Axe 'n Sex, and Wizzard played. The first festivals were organised privately, with the technology being built on a trailer borrowed from a local trucking company and the stage being a DIY construction. In subsequent years, too, most of the tasks were carried out by the small team. Until August 1994, for example, ticket orders were organised privately by Andy Göser's mother Regina Göser and security duties were performed by friendly motorcycle clubs up until 1996. In 1991, the number of visitors increased to 1,300, and with Skyline returning, Bon Scott, an AC/DC cover band from Hamburg, Gypsy Kyss, Kilgore, Life Artist, Ruby Red, and Shanghai'd Guts joined them on stage for an all-regional roster. That same year, the iconic skull logo was designed by Mark Ramsauer after the basic shape had been determined by Thomas Jensen and Holger Hübner. The cow skull refers to the venue, a meadow for cows, and to Jensen and Hübner as "boys from the village". In 1992, the programme changed to include internationally renowned bands such as Blind Guardian and Saxon for the first time, and the number of bands rose to 26, listing bands from Sweden, the US, Ireland, and Belgium. The organisers used a professional stage with lighting and PA for the first time and were able to win cigarette brand Prince Denmark as a sponsor. That year, the Party Stage was set up in the DJ tent next to the main stage, where cover bands and fun projects were to perform exclusively. The additional post-concert costs for garbage disposal on the campground, where 2,500 paying guests and many more were present and celebrated, as well as the significantly oversized security, among other things, meant that the organisers recorded a loss of around 25,000 D-Mark that year. With the reunion of the band Fates Warning at the festival in 1993, Wacken Open Air had a special feature and also made a name for itself in the following years with unusual band constellations and reunions. At the same time, Doro Pesch and other well-known bands made for interesting appearances, which resulted in a new record attendance of 3,500 paying customers. Simultaneously, the team tried their hand at concert organisation and, under the moniker Stone Castle Promotion, held a Motörhead concert for 2,000 people in Flensburg which, unfortunately, could not cover its promotional costs. A show with Dio/Freak of Nature became a disaster with only 167 tickets sold, and together with the Open Air, which again recorded a minus, the organisers incurred debts of around 350,000 D-Mark. As a result, Jörg Jensen and Andreas Göser left the team; Holger Hübner and Thomas Jensen remained, as did Jörn-Ulf Goesmann for another two years, continuing to run the Wacken Open Air despite the debts for which their parents had provided guarantees. During the same year, Thomas Jensen's mother died and Holger Hübner had a serious accident – the year went down in Wacken history as the "year of the plague". On its fifth anniversary in 1994, the financial situation stabilised and the festival finally broke even. The line-up remained professional and featured many internationally known bands from the metal scene. A total of 4,500 tickets were sold; on top of that, due to the rising costs of garbage disposal, tickets for the camping grounds had to be purchased separately, and pre-orders were rewarded with a free T-shirt. Also in 1995, income and expenses evened out thanks to the commitment of bands such as Tiamat, D-A-D, the Pretty Maids, and Angra. But even with roughly 5,000 attendees, the festival didn't turn a profit. However, for the first time, national media became aware of Wacken Open Air, especially Rock Hard magazine, as well as the newly founded TV station VIVA with its Heavy Metal programme Metalla. First achievements and growth Ticket sales for the 1996 festival again started sluggishly, despite a headliner like Kreator and numerous internationally renowned bands such as The Exploited, Gorefest, and Crematory. Management tried to prevent another loss by securing more acts and finally managed to get Böhse Onkelz to perform. The engagement of the controversial band also led to criticism, and some bands cancelled their gig in Wacken that year. Cologne band Brings called off their gig on short notice and offered to refund their fans' ticket prices. As a result of many visitors flooding the village in 1996, the inhabitants of Wacken voiced their concern over an event of this size being held in the local gravel pit. Uwe Trede offered to relocate the festival site to his own property and the areas previously used as campgrounds and took care of the acquisition of additional land. The organisational team grew to.... Discover the Heike Denzau popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Heike Denzau books.