1. From Provincial Festival to International Circle
Vicen Open Air Festival, i.e. W: O: A is known as a small festival with only 800 rock fans and some local metal bands in 1990. The initial site was a pre -gravel pit on the outer part of the village of Vecain Northwest in Hamburg. Today, the four -day program is one of the world’s largest and most famous metal festivals, with around 185,000 fans from more than 80 countries.
The festival is usually sold within hours, although tickets are getting more expensive – this year € 333 – and the incident is rapidly commercializing. Nevertheless, Vecain has become a meeting site for the metal community. When in Vecain, be prepared to face the familiar “Devils Horn” metalhead salute – a respected fist with outstrad index and Pinky fingers – as well as the family’s fight: “Wakicain!”
2. A temporary metropolis
During the festival week, Vecain village turns into a metropolis of about 95,000 people, including fans, tens of crew members and assistants as well as hundreds of musicians and media from all over the world. The 240-hectare site has a complete independent infrastructure with over 1,300 toilets, hundreds of rainfall, its own electricity and water supply, waste collection and even a small police station. Mobile medical stations, field kitchens, shuttle buses and a sophisticated traffic management system.
Even in heavy rains and mud – a vacant classic – the show runs. As a base, tons of wooden chips, a drainage system and local farmers, who pull vehicles stuck with mud with their tractors, also make the weather possible in difficult weather conditions. But back in 2023, the mud attained the upper hand: the festival site was largely irrelevant, forcing about 235,000 fans to turn back. The festival was almost completely canceled.
3. A beer pipeline
Whether it is day or night, many metalheads traditionally maintain a stable flow of beer. To prevent the tap from drying, an underground beer pipeline was built in 2017. It combines central tanks with multiple taps on the site and can transport up to 10,000 liters of beer per hour. It saves on transport, protects the roads, and ensures that the supply is uninterrupted.
In the festival range, Pak Prasad, and food trucks from Curvorst Fries to Vegetarian Falfel Pockets can be found through the festival ground. A new payment system has been implemented from 2022. The festival wrist has a chip that can be at the top with a debit or credit card at many stations. It can be used to pay through the festival site. Cash or card payment is not possible.
4. More than metal
Of course, the center takes the center stage in the metal vacation – in all its forms. Large functions play in three main stages, “fast,” “harder” and “lord”. This year N ‘Gulab, Papa Roach, Machine Head and Gojira, major functions performing with others. Fans gather in front of stels, known as infields, so are known as “holy ground” or “holy area”.
But the festival is therefore provides a variety of fields with various programs and activities. In Wakenger Village, for example, fans, Jugallers, Nights, Fire Show and Discovery Medieval Band. The food is slightly different here and contains hearty diaces such as suckers, bulls on spit, steus and soup, as well as medieval -style desserts and beverages such as mead or fruit wines.
Another region known as barren land has a post-epocaliptic design, with a flame thrower and scrap metal buildings reminiscent of “Mad Max”. A group of artists known as “barren land warriors” provides an apocalypse nature with fire and smoke. The region has a platform mainly with artists playing industrial music.
Beergarden is a popular meeting space for metalheads that want to make it a little easier. Playing here is the Fire Department band “Vecain Firefighters”, which offers a feel-codal environment with the Brass band versions of the famous rock classics.
The other stages feature comedy, spoken words, metal yoga, wrestling and reading.
5. Metal takes a stand
Beyond all the noise, one thing is certain: Vecain sees herself not only as a festival, but is therefore a platform for social and culture. A central element is the Vecan Foundation, which is the existence of History 2009. It aims to support bands coming from metal and hard rock views worldwide. Foundation Studio provides financial assistance for recording, tourism and equipment. Money is donated by fans and festival operators, among others.
Vicen is a metal battle of special importance – a global competition in which young bands from more than 30 countries compete against each other. Competition to wide bands from all three, including Tinidad and Tobago and Botswana. The award is an opportunity to play one of the big stalls of the festival. For many people, this is the first step for international career.
The festival hosts the Vecan Music Camp, which brings young people together to write, rehearses and showcase their own songs to the youth of Germany. Under professional guidance, they are provided a creative location where they can write the content of their hearts.
Thus festivals, including health -related elements, discovery as campaigns against blood cancer in which the present people are encouraged to register as potential stem cell donors. With actions such as thesis, Vecain shows that the music can also give a quiet statement – and the support for worthy reasons is part of the metal view and parcel.
This article was translated from German,
