Image copyright AFP Image caption Tens of thousands were due to attend the festival

A rock music festival in western Germany, Rock am Ring, has been evacuated over a "terrorist threat", the organisers have announced.

Fans hoping to see German rock giants Rammstein streamed out of the Nuerburg arena after organisers asked them to leave in a "calm and controlled" way.

"Due to a terrorist threat the police have advised us to interrupt the festival," they said.

A bomb at a concert in Manchester claimed 22 lives last month.

Some 85,000 people were expected to visit the three-day festival, Efe news agency reports. It falls on the Pentecost holiday weekend.

The organisers said in a Facebook post they hoped the festival would resume on Saturday.

'Defiant spirits'

Fans could be seen pumping the air with their fists and chanting as they left on Friday evening.

"Defiant spirits among Rock am Ring visitors, cheated out of a day of festival, maybe the complete festival," tweeted DW reporter Rick Fulker.

Rock am Ring celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Friday's other bands included Welshly Arms, In Flames and 2Cellos.

In August of last year, a failed asylum seeker from Syria blew himself up outside an open-air concert in the south German town of Ansbach.

He had been prevented by a security guard from getting into the concert area and detonated a rucksack filled with explosives in a local beer garden, killing himself and wounding 15 others.

Police in the nearby city of Koblenz said in a statement (in German) the festival had been halted "due to concrete indications of a possible terrorist threat".

In light of the attack in Manchester, it added, security at this year's festival had already been boosted, with some 1,200 personnel on duty.

Last year, the same festival was disrupted by a storm when 30 people were taken to hospital as a result of lighting strikes.</s>German police have ordered an evacuation of the Rock Am Ring festival in Nurburg, Germany due to a “terrorist threat.”

The organizers released a statement saying: “Due to a terrorist threat the police have advised us to interrupt the festival.

“We ask all festival visitors to leave the festival site in a calm and controlled manner towards the exits and camping grounds. We have to support the police investigations.

“All visitors will be kept informed about any developments on all Rock am Ring Social Media channels, radio and the speakers. We hope that the festival will continue tomorrow. Thank you for your cooperation.”

Over 80,000 fans are attending the event, which began today and is supposed to run to June 4th. Headliners for the event included Rammstein and System Of A Down. BraveWords scribe Carl Begai reports Rock Am Ring’s sister festival in Nuremberg went ahead without incident.</s>On June 2nd, German police ordered an evacuation of the Rock Am Ring festival in Nurburg, Germany due to a “terrorist threat.” Variety reported that several leads hinted at a real threat. Rammstein was scheduled to headline the first day, but ended up not playing due to the evacuation.

According to a June 3rd update on the official Rock am Ring website here, the Saturday festivities have gone ahead as planned. Stay tuned for updates over the weekend, as heightened security is expected.

“As safety is paramount, and it is necessary to exclude a threat to festival visitors in any case as far as possible, it was decided to suspend the festival for this day,” police said regarding the June 2nd evacuation.

“After a threat could not be ruled out, all necessary measures were taken immediately. This led to the event being interrupted today for security reasons,” they added.

The organizers released a statement saying: “Due to a terrorist threat the police have advised us to interrupt the festival. We ask all festival visitors to leave the festival site in a calm and controlled manner towards the exits and camping grounds. We have to support the police investigations.

“All visitors will be kept informed about any developments on all Rock am Ring Social Media channels, radio and the speakers. We hope that the festival will continue tomorrow. Thank you for your cooperation.”

Over 80,000 fans are attending the event, which began today and is supposed to run to June 4th. Headliners for the event included Rammstein and System Of A Down. BraveWords scribe Carl Begai reports Rock Am Ring’s sister festival in Nuremberg, Rock Im Park, went ahead without incident.</s>The Rock am Ring Festival in Nuerburg, Germany was evacuated Friday following a terror threat at the festival grounds.

“Due to a terrorist threat the police have advised us to interrupt the festival,” organizers said in a statement. “We ask all festival visitors to leave the festival in a calm and

This article originally appeared on www.rollingstone.com: Germany’s Rock am Ring Festival Evacuated After Terror Threat</s>A terrorist threat led to the evacuation of tens of thousands of music fans Friday from the Rock am Ring festival in Nuerburg, Germany, police and concert organizers said. "The organizers of Rock am Ring in close coordination with police have suspended the festival for today," Koblenz police said in a statement.

Start the conversation, or Read more at 5NEWSonline.com.</s>An 80,000-person rock festival at the Nürburgring race track in Nürburg, Germany was evacuated Friday evening, moments before headliner Rammstein took the stage. Organizers of the Rock am Ring festival said in statement that police had warned of a bomb threat against the event and cleared out the festival to perform a security sweep.

“Due to a terrorist threat the police have advised us to interrupt the festival. We ask all festival visitors to leave the festival in a calm and controlled manner towards the exits and camping grounds. We have to support the police investigations,” according to a translated statement provided to Billboard by festival owner Live Nation. “All visitors will be kept informed about any developments on all Rock am Ring Social Media channels, radio and the speakers. We hope that the festival will continue tomorrow. Thank you for your cooperation.”

The evacuation comes less than two weeks after a suicide bomber struck an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, killing 22 individuals and injuring over 100 more. A benefit concert featuring Grande, Katy Perry, Justin Beiber, Coldplay, and others is set to take place this Sunday.

Music writer Rick Fulker was at Rock am Ring and took to Twitter to post images of the evacuation showing many disappointed music fans leaving the festival site.

Rock am Ring is owned by Live Nation and created by German promoter Marek Leiberberg, whose company MLK was Live Nation purchased in August 2015. Rock am Ring includes headliners Rammstein, Die Toten Hosen, and System Of A Down along with performers Bastille, Five Finger Death Punch, Liam Gallagher, Rag’n’Bone Man, Sum 41, Machine Gun Kelly, Prophets Of Rage, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, and Pierce The Veil.

According to The Guardian, Lieberberg held an impromptu press conference and told journalists at the scene he hoped the festival could resume Saturday.

“The public reacted fantastically,” he said regarding the evacuation.</s>Rock am Ring, a large music festival held in Nurburg, Germany adjacent to the Nurburgring Nordschleife has been put on hold Friday night by event organizers after being notified by police of a "terrorist threat," according to a Facebook post on the festival's official page.

Local police said in a statement that there is "concrete evidence" of a possible terrorist threat to the music festival.

Prior to the announcement of this threat, police had arranged to step up their presence at the music event.

"With regard to the latest attack on a concert in Manchester, the security concept for Rock am Ring was modified in advance and the number of the operational forces increased significantly to around 1,200," police wrote in a statement (translated from German). "We take all references and all suspicious moments very seriously and go after them intensively."

Event organizers said on Facebook that they "hope that the festival will continue tomorrow."</s>Visitors leave the music festival Rock am Ring outside the western town of Nuerburg, Germany, Friday, June 2, 2017. German authorities have shut down a popular rock music festival because of a possible terrorist threat. (Thomas Frey/Dpa via AP)

Visitors leave the music festival Rock am Ring outside the western town of Nuerburg, Germany, Friday, June 2, 2017. German authorities have shut down a popular rock music festival because of a possible terrorist threat. Visitors leave the music festival Rock am Ring outside the western town of Nuerburg, Germany, Friday, June 2, 2017. German authorities have shut down a popular music festival after uncovering a possible terrorist threat.

Organizers of a popular German rock festival say it is set to resume on Saturday after police searches failed to confirm fears of a terrorist threat. Authorities shut down and cleared thousands of fans from the three-day Rock am Ring festival Friday evening, its opening night. They cited what they called "concrete indications on the basis of which a possible terrorist threat can't be ruled out," but didn't give details. The top security official in western Rhineland-Palatinate, Roger Lewentz, planned a news conference at 11 a.m. (0900 GMT) Saturday. Rock am Ring organizers said in a Facebook post ahead of that appearance that police had cleared them to prepare to reopen the site.</s>One of Germany’s biggest music festivals has been abruptly halted due to a “concrete” terrorist threat.

Around 87,000 fans are evacuated Friday from the three-day ‘Rock am Ring’ music festival near Nürburg in western Germany.

In a statement on Facebook, the festival’s organizers urged all those attending to leave the site in a “calm and controlled manner” after being warned of a “terrorist threat.”

“We hope that the festival will continue tomorrow. Thank you for your cooperation,” the statement added.

In a separate statement, local police said that “investigations are currently under way” regarding “concrete indications, which cannot exclude a possible terrorist threat.” In the wake of a recent attack at a music concert in Manchester, all precautions are being taken for the event, with 1,200 police officers already deployed at the scene.

Last year, Germany experienced its first major Islamist terrorist attack, when Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorist Anis Amri deliberately drove a truck into a Berlin Christmas market, killing 12 civilians.

The Rock am Ring festival, which was scheduled to run until Sunday, is an annual event held at the Nürburgring arena near the historic city of Nürburg, focused mainly on rock and metal music. In the past, the biggest danger to fans’ health and lives was the weather – over 70 people were injured and 42 sent to the hospital after the event was hit by lightning strikes last year. None of the injuries, however, were life-threatening.</s>A music festival in Germany has been evacuated over terrorist concerns.

The Rock am Ring Festival in Nürburg, Germany announced via Facebook on Friday that the three​-​day music event​ ​would be evacuated​ — at least for the day.​

MORE: Ariana Grande Visits Fans Injured in Manchester Attack at the Hospital — See the Heartwarming Pics

“Due to a terrorist threat the police have advised us to interrupt the festival. We ask all festival visitors to leave the festival site in a calm and controlled manner towards the exits and camping grounds. We have to support the police investigations,” the organizers posted. “We hope that the festival will continue tomorrow. Thank you for your cooperation.”

Several hours later, the organizers updated​ the page​, ​writing, “The organizers of Rock am Ring and the police are working nightshifts to take all necessary measures to guarantee a safe festival.”

WATCH: Ariana Grande’s One Love Manchester Benefit Concert Sells Out in Minutes

“More detailed information will be announced tomorrow at 11 a.m. at the press conference of the Ministry of the Interior of Rhineland-Palatinate,” the announcement read. “We will inform you as soon as we have confirmed information about the possible continuation of the festival. Unfortunately we have to rely on external sources for these information. We all hope to rock on together tomorrow. Despite all difficulties we are grateful for this fantastic teamwork we all showed today.”

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, System of a Down, and Prophets of Rage are among the artists lined up for the festival this weekend.

The news comes just ahead of Ariana Grande’s One Love Manchester benefit concert on ​Sunday, ​June 4, which will feature the Dangerous Woman singer, as well as Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Pharrell Williams, Coldplay, Niall Horan​, and​ Usher,​ among others, ​and will benefit the victims’ families of t​he tragedy after a concert​ on May 22​, which claimed the lives of 22 people and injured dozens more.

Watch the video below for the security preparations for the star-studded benefit show.
A terrorist threat results in the evacuation of tens of thousands of fans at the first day of the annual Rock am Ring music festival at the Zeppelinfeld in Nuremberg, Germany. Organizers say they hope the festival will resume Saturday.