< PreviousTurning nights into days: Cypecore acken Thursday started off with a dose of mindfulness, thanks to mental train- er Jana Solvejg and Rock Hard magazine co-founder Uwe Lerch. The pair present- ed their new interactive book on mental health and rock ’n’ roll, “Amplify Your Life“. In addition to a foreword by Holger Hübner himself, the book features contributions from Udo Dirkschneider, Wolf Hoffmann, Doro and others. Comes highly recom- mended! In the afternoon, BAP took to the holy Acker for the first time, opened the Infield and delivered rock in their Kölsch dialect. Thanks to an impressive wind section and evergreens like their hit “Ver- damp lang her“, the language barrier was annihilated. Shortly afterwards, things got noticeably rougher on the Headbanger Stage: Hellbutch- er hellbutchered the stage. In front of them: a mud pit that decorated even the more inac- tive fans in brown specks. Singer Per Gustav- son arrived in a stud- ded outfit that really stood out. Pretty sharp! Guitarist Michael Schenker had a sur- prise in store: he an- nounced a new album for October to be titled “Don’t Sell Your Soul“. The album’s first sin- gle premiered that same evening on Faster. Prior to this, Ugly Kid Joe immortalised their hands in concrete for the Landgasthof, joining leg- ends such as Doro and the Scorpions, who had already done so the previous year. “It’s always great to be here, I love it,“ said singer Whitfield Crane about the W:O:A. By evening, the time had come: headliners Guns N’ Roses kicked off their set on the Harder stage. Clutching at bass: Clawfinger’s André Skaug Wellness à la Wacken: metal yoga, mud bath included BAP and lead singer Wolfgang Niedecken’s “Verdamp lang her” translates to “it’s been a while” in English. Were they talking about the sun?Static-X singer/cyborg Xer0’s look pays homage to Wayne Static (†) Party Faster, Harder, Louder: Wackööön! The voice of a demon: professional extreme singer Britta Görtz Very metal, just not on his head: Per “Hellbutcher” Gustavsson Me(n)tal health with Jana Solvejg, Uwe Lerch and host Christof Leim Dave Fortman of Ugly Kid Joe is feeling it Beyond the Black’s Jennifer Haben Chris Harms of Lord of the Lost are swinging by on Thursday Whitfield Crane (r) and Klaus Eichstadt (l) of Ugly Kid Joe are joining the Wacken Walk of Legends Rock buddies Slash and Michael Schenker turn up the heat Can’t stop writing: author Sebastian Fitzekby Victoria Schaffrath “ hen I walked through the gates and saw the two main stages next to each other, I cried,” Courtney Stark ad- mits, her eyes glistening again. Neither jet lag nor mud could deter the 31-year-old who, compared to most of the other 85,000 metalheads attending, has braved an ar- duous journey to the Holy Ground. “I saw ‘Metal - A Headbangers Journey’ about the filmmaker’s travels to various shows and fes- tivals across the world when I was 13 or 14. It’s been my dream ever since.” One year ago, the Sydney native finally decided to make the journey to the Holy Ground in 2025. Just after W:O:A 33 had fin- ished, she got her hands on a ticket and immedi- ately began to network: “I started a Facebook group to see if any oth- er Aussies were coming here. We’ve been hang- Courtney Stark from Sydney is enjoying her first Wacken – complete with beer and mud, as the metal gods intended From AUS to W:O:A – Courtney has literally travelled halfway across the world for Wacken! 30 hours, 3 means of transport, 16,000 kilometres: the Australian has made her lifelong dream of the Holy Ground come true Through her work photographing shows in Australia, Courtney meets metal stars like Sharon den Adel: - According to Court- ney, the Metal-Train is “on another level” – a nonstop party from the South to the North of Germany. People are ask- ing her why she’s tak- ing on the long journey. “These are the stages I’ve been admiring from across the globe for twen- ty-odd years, and here I am. Being in the mecca of heavy metal is absolute- ly unreal. Everyone back home is living vicarious- ly through me.” : : : Kreis Steinburg Sydney Dubai Munich ing out and enjoying the countdown as it was coming closer. We have people from different parts of Austral- ia and from New Zealand as well. Now we got to meet up on the Holy Ground – it was absolutely amazing!” Back home, Courtney’s love for darker tunes is well taken care of. “The metal scene in Sydney is very much thriving, we have a big underground community in Newcastle and Melbourne. Perth has a good metal scene as well. The local bands are all really special.” With such a lively scene, it’s no wonder Courtney eventually picked up a camera to capture it. Now, she photographs metal icons like Sharon den Adel with her band Within Temp- tation and Will Ramos with Lorna Shore, or shoots for the Australian edition of Knotfest. We’re wondering: would she be willing to take this long trip again? “I would absolutely come back to the Holy Ground! I’ve been bitten by the bug, and its sting contin- ues to linger.” The flight from Sydney to Dubai already takes 14 hours, and half of that is spent over Australian air- space. “I woke up from a nap and we weren’t even in Darwin (editor’s note: city in the North of Australia) yet,” Courtney laughs. She usesz this part of the jour- ney to catch up on as much sleep as possible. Even after the party train, spirits are high in the shuttle to the Holy Ground, as the fun is about to start, and Court- ney will finally be able to see the acts she is excited about. “Do you want me to tell you the five bands I most want to see?” she asks and, without a pause, continues: “Okay, that’s Moonsorrow, Månegarm, Katatonia, Iotunn and Soen. Tabernus were also great, and I can’t wait for Saltatio Mortis. And I’ll take Guns N’ Roses, too!” Credits: Courtney Stark, @crtnylstrk_imagery “O’zapft is” - the Bavarian way of saying “cheers” Lemmy, Ozzy and Rob ride along Arrival at Itzehoe station near Wacken The plane ride to Munich is also spent sleeping and watching movies – a wise precaution. Once she ar- rives in Munich, Court- ney orders a “Maß” and a “Leberkässemmel”, get- ting a taste of Bavarian beer and meat loaf sand- wiches. After a strenuous journey, Residenz Evil welcomed Courtney with some mod consOzzy Osbourne’s death on July 22 hit us all hard. Losing him means losing one of the biggest heroes of our heavy metal community – but his music lives on. On the campgrounds, metalheads played his songs; bands played their own covers as homages to the Prince of Darkness. Wacken Open Air made a statement, as well, written in the night sky with 800 drones. Ozzy, we love you!The Neumünster native joined the Wacken Foun- dation in 2011. Back then, the trained concrete worker had been a volunteer return- ables collector on the festival grounds. His day job at the time is jumping out of planes for the German armed forces. Before that, he was in logistics as a warehouse manager. “In 2016, I started as a carer in a nursing home,” he reports, “because my back problems meant I had to switch careers.” Throughout, he stayed loyal to his volunteer work with the foundation – until 2018, when a call changed his life. “I had let the then-boss of Wacken Foundation know he was basically doing my dream job,” Arne recalls. “When he wanted to move to be clos- er to his family, he asked by Timon Menge “ ey, how are you guys doing?“ Arne Blaschke makes his rounds at Wacken Foun- dation camp, welcoming everyone working a booth there. Every day, he makes sure everything is running smoothly and asks wheth- er anybody needs anything. Whether that’s an addition- al fence or a wristband for a team member running late. “Our Wacken Foundation camp on the Camping Plaza is somewhat of a yearly family reunion,” the 43-year-old ex- plains. In more than 20 tents, 30 of the foundation’s coop- erators present themselves to the Wacken world – all of them coordinated by Arne and his team of volunteers. A trained concrete worker, Arne Blaschke became the face of the Wacken Foundation in 2018, supporting up- and-coming bands via donations from the community. Arne drums up more than just donationsme whether I’d like to run things.” Arne’s baptism by fire was Full Metal Mountain 2018 in Austria. “Suddenly, during lunch, Holger Hüb- ner appeared in front of me,” he remembers. “I thought I had messed up somehow –in- stead, it was my job interview for head of the foundation.” Now, Arne has led the Wacken Foundation for seven years and supports young bands financially, for example, as an incen- tive to produce records or go on tour. He’s also respon- sible for marketing and book- keeping. “The applications, however, go straight to a com- mittee of six people who then discuss which bands get how much support. But I get to wire the money,” Arne spec- ifies. “And I make sure there is money to wire in the first place.” He’s doing the metal com- munity a big service, because it’s been clear for years: The heroes of our youth won’t be onstage forever. “To keep W:O:A and other festivals alive, we need new bands,” Arne clarifies. “It’d be great to be able to one day say we helped them on their jour- neys.” Another big part of his job is to make sure the cooper- ation partners get some expo- sure on the Holy Ground. In return, they donate a portion of their earnings to the Wack- en Foundation – win/win. The partners also make the Foundation more visible on the festival grounds. As a result, most of the donations now come from the fans of W:O:A. “They can easily do- nate the leftover credit on their wristbands after the fes- tival,” Arne mentions. “And a lot of metalheads do.” Arne’s dream for the Wacken Foundation is to see one of their bands achieve com- mercial success – and to be able to retire with the knowledge that he’s really made a difference. The Wacken Foundation is a recognised non-prof- it organisation with the aim of supporting metal music. It was founded by W:O:A founders Holg- er Hübner and Thomas Jensen, but operates in- dependently of the festi- val. Its fund- ing comes mainly from fans of the festival and from coop- eration part- ners who do- nate part of their proceeds to the foun- dation. The foundation’s entire assets are used exclu- sively to support artists from the metal scene. It promotes young talent, for example by helping them release albums or go on tour. Among the board of trustees is met- al queen Doro Pesch. The Wacken Foundation sees itself as a long-term in- stitution for strengthen- ing and further develop- ing metal culture. Paperwork is metal, too: Arne at his desk at W:O:A Reaching for more: Arne has big plans for the Wacken Foundation Visiting Sea Shepherd, one of the Wacken Foundation’s oldest cooperators Arne likes big bucks and he cannot lie Good tidings for the foundation, thanks to Arne’s stewardship Arne with luthier Carl Anders AndersonIn Flames will return to Wacken Open Air in 2026. We talked to singer Anders Fridén about the vibe at the festival, inside jokes and metal culture by Andrea Leim What does Wacken mean to In Flames? Anders Fridén: It’s definitely a special place for In Flames. We first played Wacken in ‘97. At that point in our career, I don’t think we had played many festivals. Obviously, W:O:A was a different beast than it is today and it was cool to see all the different bands playing. I remember running between the stages just to watch all the bands. Whenever we do interviews with people from other parts of the world, when we talk about European festivals, they all mention Wacken as this metal mecca for people. If you love heavy metal, then Wacken is the place to be. Of course, we want to play that! Is there a particular W:O:A show that especially stuck with you? Anders: I think all the shows are special and unique in their own right. Obviously, the first time is special and that ‘97 show holds a special place in my heart. I remember the atmosphere and the vibe. The last time we played, there was such a huge crowd. The fans give so much Anders Fridén has been the singer, shouter and growler for In Flames for 30 years The Swedish band during their first W:O:A show in 1997love to each and every band; they go there to have a good time, and everybody shows appreciation for all the different artists. You feel like you’re walking on clouds in a way because there is so much love from the audience. Hopefully, the audience feels the same from us. What do you like most about festivals? Anders: As a band, playing festivals is fun because you meet a lot of colleagues that you haven’t seen for a long time. Somehow, I feel less pressure, even though I know we want to give people a good show and good value for their money. (laughs) But at festival you also get to reach people that maybe haven’t heard of you and create a new fan base. That’s a challenge, but a good one. I love playing live in general. It’s why I’m still around. We absolutely love being onstage and meeting the fans. How do you think your experience as a band has shaped you? Anders: With experience, you become more relaxed onstage. I feel like the stage is my room, and I feel very safe in that space. My friends are with me, after all. We all feel secure doing our jobs and have an amazing crew that helps everything run as smoothly as possible. And that facilitates the exchange of energy between the fans and the band. However, you have to make sure not to settle into routines, because every show should be special. There has to be excitement. For us, that means joking around, maybe trying to push each other’s buttons a little or making fun of each other. „ “ In Flames on the Wacken stage in 2018. They’ll be playing the festival for the ninth timeNext >