WACKEN OPEN AIR has officially sold out all 85,000 tickets for its 35th edition, set to take over the small German town of Wacken from July 29 through August 1, with early arrivals beginning July 26. The festival will be headlined by JUDAS PRIEST, SABATON, DEF LEPPARD and POWERWOLF, alongside a bill also featuring KREATOR, SODOM and a wide swath of the festival's traditionally deep, genre-spanning lineup.
Festival founders Thomas Jensen and Holger Hübner marked the sellout with statements reflecting on the event's growth since its modest beginnings. "We're delighted to celebrate this anniversary with such a huge crowd. Preparations here in the North are continuing at full speed," Jensen said. Hübner added: "Every year we're humbled and deeply grateful that we get to do what we love — organizing a great celebration for metalheads." The first WACKEN OPEN AIR, held in 1990, drew fewer than 800 attendees — a fraction of the 85,000 who will descend on the town this summer.
WACKEN sells exclusively multi-day passes, with no single-day or VIP ticket options available, a policy the festival has maintained as part of its identity as a democratic, community-driven event rather than a premium-tiered experience. Roughly 30 percent of attendees are expected to travel from outside Germany, underscoring the festival's status as a genuine international pilgrimage point for metal fans. Tickets that can no longer be used may be resold only through the festival's official Wacken Ticket Market, a measure intended to curb scalping.
The festival previously endured a two-year hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic before returning to its now-familiar scale. This year's sellout, achieved well ahead of the event itself, reflects continued strong demand even as ticket prices and production costs across the festival circuit have risen. With the full lineup rounding out acts across metal's many subgenres — from power metal to thrash to folk-tinged crossover acts — WACKEN OPEN AIR 2026 is positioned to once again live up to its reputation as the genre's most significant annual gathering.