10 Survival Tips for Wacken Learned on the Fly

Written by Alison “MetalBabe” Cohen

1. Wacken is pronounced Vacken (with a V)

2. Bring rubber boots *Tennis shoes only last a day

3. Bring warm clothes, fingerless gloves, and a knit cap *My ONLY long-sleeved shirt has the shoulders cut out!

4. Bring cash (Euros).

5. For the women, grab a clean wad of toilet paper each morning for the Johnny-on-the spots *Guys pee everywhere, (even though they aren’t supposed to) but girls don’t have as much of a luxury.

6. Don’t walk along any fences or behind trashcans (anywhere it looks ‘dry’) because that’s where the majority of the guys pee. *It took a day to figure out why a truck of Europeans were laughing at my husband and I as we held onto the fence to stay out of the mud.

7. There are free water stations to fill up your foldable Wacken bottle (or any bottle)

8. Return your Wacken beer cup with each beer to save 1 Euro off your next beer. *Keep a lookout for unattended Wacken cups and return for cash or beer money

9. If you want to stage dive, you will most likely be greeted by a friendly security guard who will carry you over the front fence and pat you on the back before sending you on your way.

10. If you are camping, bring a tarp to set your tent on and make sure your tent has a roof that seals *My tent was from Los Angeles. and had ‘windows’ in it to let the ‘air’ in. In this case, it let in the freezing cold rain and almost blew away… Three times.