Over the years, the size of Wacken Open Air has grown continuously, and now dozens of bands and tens of thousands of visitors flock to the festival.
Even though the organisers said in 2006 that 62,500 visitors were "the limit of what is possible", changes were made to the structure of the festival grounds the following year by allocating a larger area to the "Party Stage".
In addition, tickets could no longer be purchased directly on the festival grounds to reduce the number of spontaneous or ticketless visitors.
In 2007 and 2008, the festival had already sold out as a result of advance ticket sales; for W:O:A 2009, tickets had even sold out by the end of 2008.
The tickets for 2010, too, sold out months in advance.

While the festival originally only lasted two days, the performances have been lasting from Thursday to Saturday, i.e. three days, for some years.
Thursday became a "Night to Remember", with mainly "classical" Heavy Metal bands appearing, such as the Scorpions in 2006.
On the actual Party Stage, younger and more modern bands play as a contrast to the "Night to Remember".
In addition, the event is accompanied by a rich complementary programme; in addition to a merchant area – obligatory for music festivals – a beer garden has been operating since 2000, in which the Wacken Firefighters' marching band opens the festival before its official start.
On Thursday in 2007, the "Hellfest Stage" was initiated.
Since 2009, there has been a "Medieval Stage", where mainly Medieval and Folk Metal bands play.

The fact that many well-known bands, including the Scorpions, Saxon, Twisted Sister, Dimmu Borgir, Slayer, and Helloween, have recorded live DVDs at Wacken, shows how esteemed the Open Air has since become.
Ahead of their farewell tour in 2004, Die Böhsen Onkelz also performed an extended set at W:O:A.
Since 2002, the so-called "Metal Train" has been travelling from Zurich to Wacken and back before and after the festival to bring fans to the Northern German village and provide a matching entertainment programme.
Bus tours from Scandinavian countries, especially Sweden, but also from Austria, are organised each year and used by several hundred fans.

The "W:O:A Soccercup" has been taking place annually since 2002.
This football tournament, which started with nine teams and takes place on Wednesdays, has grown over the years and has been held in World Cup mode with 32 teams since 2007 (a one-off event in 2011 featured 36 teams).
The international teams register in advance and are composed of festival visitors.
For the tournament's 15th anniversary in 2016, a band was featured and took part for the first time: Serum 114 formed a team with several fans and were able to win the tournament.
Although it is meant to be a fun tournament, in which creative outfits and names take precedence over athletic performance, the award ceremony after the tournament has been held on one of the stages since 2013 and prizes can be won.

In 2013, the "Full Metal Church" took place in Wacken for the first time.
Marking the local church's 150th anniversary, the team, together with the parish, organised a concert by the band Faun, which was framed by two readings and sermons by "Volxbibel" author Martin Dreyer.
Both the concert and the services were completely overcrowded by festival visitors.
Over the years, the size of Wacken Open Air has grown continuously, and now dozens of bands and tens of thousands of visitors flock to the festival. Even though the organisers said in 2006 that 62,500 visitors were "the limit of what is possible", changes were made to the structure of the festival grounds the following year by allocating a larger area to the "Party Stage". In addition, tickets could no longer be purchased directly on the festival grounds to reduce the number of spontaneous or ticketless visitors. In 2007 and 2008, the festival had already sold out as a result of advance ticket sales; for W:O:A 2009, tickets had even sold out by the end of 2008. The tickets for 2010, too, sold out months in advance.
While the festival originally only lasted two days, the performances have been lasting from Thursday to Saturday, i.e. three days, for some years. Thursday became a "Night to Remember", with mainly "classical" Heavy Metal bands appearing, such as the Scorpions in 2006. On the actual Party Stage, younger and more modern bands play as a contrast to the "Night to Remember". In addition, the event is accompanied by a rich complementary programme; in addition to a merchant area – obligatory for music festivals – a beer garden has been operating since 2000, in which the Wacken Firefighters' marching band opens the festival before its official start. On Thursday in 2007, the "Hellfest Stage" was initiated. Since 2009, there has been a "Medieval Stage", where mainly Medieval and Folk Metal bands play.
The fact that many well-known bands, including the Scorpions, Saxon, Twisted Sister, Dimmu Borgir, Slayer, and Helloween, have recorded live DVDs at Wacken, shows how esteemed the Open Air has since become. Ahead of their farewell tour in 2004, Die Böhsen Onkelz also performed an extended set at W:O:A.
Since 2002, the so-called "Metal Train" has been travelling from Zurich to Wacken and back before and after the festival to bring fans to the Northern German village and provide a matching entertainment programme. Bus tours from Scandinavian countries, especially Sweden, but also from Austria, are organised each year and used by several hundred fans.
The "W:O:A Soccercup" has been taking place annually since 2002. This football tournament, which started with nine teams and takes place on Wednesdays, has grown over the years and has been held in World Cup mode with 32 teams since 2007 (a one-off event in 2011 featured 36 teams). The international teams register in advance and are composed of festival visitors. For the tournament's 15th anniversary in 2016, a band was featured and took part for the first time: Serum 114 formed a team with several fans and were able to win the tournament. Although it is meant to be a fun tournament, in which creative outfits and names take precedence over athletic performance, the award ceremony after the tournament has been held on one of the stages since 2013 and prizes can be won.
In 2013, the "Full Metal Church" took place in Wacken for the first time. Marking the local church's 150th anniversary, the team, together with the parish, organised a concert by the band Faun, which was framed by two readings and sermons by "Volxbibel" author Martin Dreyer. Both the concert and the services were completely overcrowded by festival visitors.
Wacken Open Air