Germany’s Wacken Open Air Fest has postponed its 2021 fest due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but will be rescheduling the event to next year. The fest is now set to take place from August 4 to August 6 and will feature a diverse roster, including heavy metal icons Judas Priest, Italian gothic metal outfit Lacuna Coil, nu metal group Limp Bizkit, Symphonic metal band Avantasia and death metal heads As I Lay Dying.

“It is with a heavy heart that we have decided that Wacken Open Air cannot take place at the end of July this year. We therefore postpone the festival to 04.08. – 06.08.2022. This decision was anything but easy for us, also because we know that you are already in the middle of the preparations and planning,” organizers wrote in a statement to The PRP. ” Like we are, too. We would like to take this opportunity to specifically thank the state of Schleswig-Holstein, the authorities and politicians for an extremely constructive and trusting cooperation.”

Although Germany’s COVID-19 infection rate has been declining from a peak last fall, the country has only recently allowed everyone to sign up for vaccinations. As of press time, only 17.2 million people have been fully vaccinated, accounting for a total of 20.8 percent of the population. Around 45 percent have received their first vaccine dosage.

Wacken Open Air has taken place in the village of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany virtually every year since 1990, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to its cancellation last year as well. The event typically hosts between 75,000 to 85,o00 attendees each year, making it one of the most popular heavy metal fests in the world, and one of the largest open-air festivals in Germany.

Photo Credit: Stephen Hoffmeister