Wacken Open Air 2020 with its 75,000 festival visitors from over 80 nations cannot take place as originally planned this summer. But no reason to be quiet!

Metalheads from all over the world travel annually to Wacken to celebrate heavy metal, but this year the organizers and long-term partner Telekom are bringing a completely new Wacken experience as revolutionary digital festival directly to the fans‘ homes: Wacken is coming home with the biggest mixed reality metal show of all times!

The first edition of the digital streaming festival Wacken World Wide will take place in the originally scheduled festival period from July 29 to August 1, and is shaped completely independently of the actual W:O:A festival. This special event is live and available for free online and via app on wacken-world-wide.com, MagentaMusik 360 and MagentaTV.

Unique and exclusive shows of W:O:A classics and all time favourites such as Blind Guardian, Heaven Shall Burn, In Extremo, Kreator and Beyond The Black on innovative, spectacular virtual stages, as well as promising newcomers of Wacken Metal Battle and Wacken Foundation result in a brilliant and varied overall programme with exclusive interviews, talk rounds and behind-the-scenes content. The fully digital approach creates mixed reality show concepts exclusively designed for a virtual stage never seen before. With its innovative design and technical implementation this is set to be a world premiere in the live music business!     

Thomas Jensen about the new event format: “It is a huge pleasure for us to finally be able to unveil the news today. The entire team has worked with great ambition and motivation over the past few weeks and months to implement the new Wacken World Wide concept in order to put together an overall package never seen before!” says the W:O:A festival co-founder.

Holger Hübner states: "After the cancellation of this year's festival season, the new format is a ray of hope that allows us to celebrate with our loyal fans, partners and artists in an unprecedented way," adds the W:O:A festival co-founder. "We look forward to your feedback and reactions and can't wait to bring Wacken around the world!"

In terms of music and content there is of course a full dose of heavy metal in good old Wacken style as unique mixed reality concept. It’s not about Wacken as a village nor the festival itself, it’s all about the but the unprecedented, authentic experience.

Immersive technology connects artists and fans worldwide. Artists play live, are filmed in real time with precise camera tracking and integrated directly into the virtual set. The innovative XR-technology brings the stage to life. The LED back wall, LED floor and fan interaction create an authentic stage feeling for artists and fans alike. Active hands-on programs and other exciting interactions keep fans close to the artists and virtually in front of the stage so they become part of this authentic live experience. For the perfect festival look WWW merchandise, original festival wristbands and special souvenir-tickets can be found on Metaltix.com.   

More info on Wacken World Wide is coming soon. The biggest Wacken ever starts on July 29 on wacken-world-wide.com, MagentaMusik 360 and Magenta TV, as well as #DABEI. Keep your eyes and ears open! Wacken is coming home.

     

(Photo - pepbonet)