The festival is one of the Metal scene's highlights of the year.
Nowadays, about a third of the visitors, some of whom arrive quite some time before the official start of the festival, and the majority of the bands come from abroad.
According to the organisers, 2018 saw visitors from more than 80 nations attending the festival.

The number of participants increased to 75,000 in 2008 and included 65,000 paying guests.
In 2008, the festival sold out twice ( W:O:A 2008 in spring and W:O:A 2009 on 31 December 2008).

As is common with festivals of this size, Wacken Open Air received criticism for its hygienic conditions, prices, security personnel, as well as for the overcrowding and commercial orientation of the event.
These points of criticism were addressed by making further substantial investments in the festival's fixed and mobile infrastructure.
In 2008, the organisers also contributed 1,000,000 Euros to the expansion of Wacken's local outdoor swimming pool in order to make the festival even more attractive to the residents and visitors of the town.

Since 2006, the festival has been running an online radio station called Wacken Radio, which broadcasts Metal music around the clock.
It is being produced in cooperation with RauteMusik as of February 2014.

For the 23rd edition of Wacken Open Air, the sale of an "X-Mas Package" started on Monday, 8 August 2011, shortly after the end of that year's festival, and was sold out within 45 minutes.
The event sold out ten times in a row between 2006 and 2015.
Tickets for Wacken Open Air 2015 sold out after just 12 hours on 4 August 2014 – just a few hours after the end of W:O:A 2014.
The X-Mas Tickets for W:O:A 2016, which cost 10 Euros less and whose buyers were entitled to a free T-shirt, were completely sold out only 20 minutes after the start of pre-sales.
Booking office Metaltix’ servers were highly busy.
In the minutes before the start of the pre-sale, the pages were no longer accessible; after that, data traffic had to be limited by wait lists.

Prices for the festival have risen and are currently at a level similar to other major Rock festivals, such as Rock am Ring and Hurricane Festival.
After several years of success in which the festival sold out within hours, the first 60,000 tickets for the 2017 festival were sold in mid-2016.
55,000 tickets were sold within the first hour.
By the end of April 2017, the festival was almost sold out except for a few remaining tickets.
The price for the festival ticket was 220 Euros, but there was no fee for early arrival campers, who often set up their elaborately designed accommodations before the festival begins – partly to get the best spots near the festival grounds.
In addition, all toilets and showers were free in 2017.

The festival sold out within a few days each in 2014–2016.
However, the last tickets for the 2017 festival were sold after 309 days, a mere 2 months before the start of the festival, even though only 10,000 tickets remained after the first day of sales.
This was a matter of speculation at first, and reasons such as the changed security situation or the price development were taken into account.
Regardless of that, the festival sold out for the 13th time in a row in 2018.

On 5 April 2018 Thomas Hess, the festival's longtime production (and former security) director, passed away.
He had joined festival management in 1996 as a former tour manager of Böhse Onkelz and was considered one of the most important leading figures for the festival, along with the remaining founders and the Trede family, who organise the camping areas and the camping supervisors as subcontractors.
He made a significant contribution to the W:O:A being so well organised, peaceful and successful.

Wacken Open Air 2018 was named the best major festival at the European Festival Awards 2018 and best festival at the Helga!
Awards.
For W:O:A 2019, all 75,000 tickets were sold within the first four days of sales, making this the 14th time in a row that the festival completely sold out.
The festival is one of the Metal scene's highlights of the year. Nowadays, about a third of the visitors, some of whom arrive quite some time before the official start of the festival, and the majority of the bands come from abroad. According to the organisers, 2018 saw visitors from more than 80 nations attending the festival.
The number of participants increased to 75,000 in 2008 and included 65,000 paying guests. In 2008, the festival sold out twice ( W:O:A 2008 in spring and W:O:A 2009 on 31 December 2008).
As is common with festivals of this size, Wacken Open Air received criticism for its hygienic conditions, prices, security personnel, as well as for the overcrowding and commercial orientation of the event. These points of criticism were addressed by making further substantial investments in the festival's fixed and mobile infrastructure. In 2008, the organisers also contributed 1,000,000 Euros to the expansion of Wacken's local outdoor swimming pool in order to make the festival even more attractive to the residents and visitors of the town.
Since 2006, the festival has been running an online radio station called Wacken Radio, which broadcasts Metal music around the clock. It is being produced in cooperation with RauteMusik as of February 2014.
For the 23rd edition of Wacken Open Air, the sale of an "X-Mas Package" started on Monday, 8 August 2011, shortly after the end of that year's festival, and was sold out within 45 minutes. The event sold out ten times in a row between 2006 and 2015. Tickets for Wacken Open Air 2015 sold out after just 12 hours on 4 August 2014 – just a few hours after the end of W:O:A 2014. The X-Mas Tickets for W:O:A 2016, which cost 10 Euros less and whose buyers were entitled to a free T-shirt, were completely sold out only 20 minutes after the start of pre-sales. Booking office Metaltix’ servers were highly busy. In the minutes before the start of the pre-sale, the pages were no longer accessible; after that, data traffic had to be limited by wait lists.
Prices for the festival have risen and are currently at a level similar to other major Rock festivals, such as Rock am Ring and Hurricane Festival. After several years of success in which the festival sold out within hours, the first 60,000 tickets for the 2017 festival were sold in mid-2016. 55,000 tickets were sold within the first hour. By the end of April 2017, the festival was almost sold out except for a few remaining tickets. The price for the festival ticket was 220 Euros, but there was no fee for early arrival campers, who often set up their elaborately designed accommodations before the festival begins – partly to get the best spots near the festival grounds. In addition, all toilets and showers were free in 2017.
The festival sold out within a few days each in 2014–2016. However, the last tickets for the 2017 festival were sold after 309 days, a mere 2 months before the start of the festival, even though only 10,000 tickets remained after the first day of sales. This was a matter of speculation at first, and reasons such as the changed security situation or the price development were taken into account. Regardless of that, the festival sold out for the 13th time in a row in 2018.
On 5 April 2018 Thomas Hess, the festival's longtime production (and former security) director, passed away. He had joined festival management in 1996 as a former tour manager of Böhse Onkelz and was considered one of the most important leading figures for the festival, along with the remaining founders and the Trede family, who organise the camping areas and the camping supervisors as subcontractors. He made a significant contribution to the W:O:A being so well organised, peaceful and successful.
Wacken Open Air 2018 was named the best major festival at the European Festival Awards 2018 and best festival at the Helga! Awards. For W:O:A 2019, all 75,000 tickets were sold within the first four days of sales, making this the 14th time in a row that the festival completely sold out.
Wacken Open Air