The organizers of the annual Wacken Open Air festival have announced the first confirmed bands for the 2026 edition of the event, set to take place from July 2 to August 1 in Wacken, Germany.

A total of 35 artists have been announced for the 35th edition of Wacken Open Air, including DEF LEPPARD, IN FLAMES, POWERWOLF, SAVATAGE and NEVERMORE.

Confirmed bands so far for Wacken Open Air 2026:

DEF LEPPARD
IN FLAMES
POWERWOLF
SAVATAGE
ALLT
AIRBOURNE
ANY GIVEN DAY
BLOOD COMMAND
BLOOD FIRE DEATH – A TRIBUTE TO BATHORY
BROKEN BY THE SCREAM
EINHERJER
EMPEROR
EUROPE
FAUN
FUTURE PALACE
GUTALAX
GRAND MAGUS
INSANITY ALERT
H-BLOCKX
KUPFERGOLD
LAMB OF GOD
LUNA KILLS
MANTAR
NEVERMORE
ORBIT CULTURE
PALEFACE SWISS
PIG DESTROYER
RUNNING WILD
SEPULTURA
TEN56.
THE GATHERING
THE HARDKISS
THUNDERMOTHER
THROWN
TRYPTIKON

The first Wacken Open Air event in 1990 drew less than 800 people, but it has since grown to become the biggest open-air festival of its kind.

Around 30 percent travel from other countries to the festival, which over recent years has been growing in popularity.

Wacken Open Air was forced to take a break for two years due to coronavirus restrictions.

Wacken Open Air normally does not announce the names of its headliners before tickets go on sale. Still, the festival usually sells out within hours.

The festival also doesn’t sell VIP access or upgrades and all purchases are for all the days without a single-day ticket option, something they did away with two decades ago.

All tickets cost €349 (plus fees), are personalized, and digital.

What’s included in your ticket:

No matter which category you choose, the following is always part of the package:

 Access to the full festival from July 29 to August 1, 2026.

 Camping from July 26 until August 2, 2026 (noon).

 Admission to all stages.

 Bus shuttle from Itzehoe train station to W:O:A festival site.

Bonus for you:

Faster Tickets are limited to 10,000 pieces and come with an exclusive special T-shirt.
Additionally, you can upgrade any ticket with optional bundle shirts, including cool extras like buttons, stickers, or lanyards.

How to get tickets, shirts & more:

 Orders go through Metaltix.

 Tickets are automatically added to your Wacken Ticketcenter account.

 You can then directly shop for merch & bundles at Metalmerch – all in one shopping cart.
Shipping will take several weeks.