The Wacken Open Air in its anniversary year – Sold out and still rocking on!

The Wacken Open Air is going to be broadcast live on the Web via live stream again in 2009 – A joint project between ICS Festivalservice, CTS EVENTIM AG, Tempodome.com and rockalarm.de

Wacken/Hamburg, 4 May 2009 – The 20th Wacken Open Air metal festival has been sold out for months already. But fans who couldn't get a ticket shouldn't despair, because the Wacken summer begins in May in Berlin at the “Wacken Rocks Berlin” festival, reaches its climax at the end of July with the legendary Open Air in Wacken and its live stream broadcast from the rock fan's Mecca, and doesn't finish until late in August with the twin festival “Wacken Rocks Seaside” and “Wacken Rocks South” in Aurich and Rieden/Kreuth respectively.

So the good news is that there are still tickets available for all three “Wacken Rocks” festivals! The warm-up for the legendary Wacken metal festival kicks off on 30 May in Berlin's Spandau Citadel with the first of three “Wacken Rocks” festivals. “Wacken Rocks Berlin” offers fans acts and artists like Der W, Volbeat, Heaven Shall Burn and D.A.D.

Then, at the end of July, the metal world divides up into two camps: the more than 70,000 lucky ones who will rock the earth on site at the 20th Wacken Open Air in Wacken, and the global metal community who will be attending remote via the biggest online metal live stream ever. Because the second piece of good news is that just as in 2008, the music portal rockalarm.de will be broadcasting the festival exclusively on the Internet in collaboration with Tempodome.

The transmission begins in the morning and goes on until the early morning. Gigs happening simultaneously on two separate stages will be filmed and broadcast one after the other. In addition to experiencing the concerts in top sound and picture quality, online fans will also be able to chat, vote and headbang in their own four walls. And the virtual road to the festival is well paved too: Tickets for the big weekend are on sale for various prices at www.eventim.de/wacken_en. The three-day pass guarantees at least 40 hours of live programme and costs EUR 6.90 until 15 May (“Early Metalheadz” ticket), EUR 10.90 from 15 May to 15 July (“Wacken Rulez” ticket) and EUR 15.90 from then on (“Headbangers Heaven” ticket).

Fans who still have the energy to rock on will then be served the ultimate heavy metal deal at the end of August: The double festival “Wacken Rocks Seaside” and “Wacken Rocks South” will be on almost simultaneously and with identical line-ups in Aurich (28-30 August) and in Rieden-Kreuth (27-29 August). Here, metal fans who couldn't get a ticket for Wacken, or who simply can't get enough, can finish off the festival year with acts like In Extremo, Der W, Edguy, Doro, Heaven Shall Burn, U.D.O, Stratovarius and many many more.

The organisers of the Wacken Open Air have joined forces again as they did last year to offer the live stream of the festival together: CTS Eventim AG, Europe's ticketing market leader, is handling the live stream tickets; the interactive live stream specialist Tempodome.com is responsible for the Internet broadcast; and Rockalarm.com, the portal for all fans of hard rock, will be presenting the stream exclusively on its website.

“We are very happy that the organisers of the Wacken Open Air have entrusted us with the live Internet broadcast of the festival together with Tempodome and Rockalarm. We invite all metal fans around the world to jump into the biggest virtual mosh pit the world has ever seen!” says Malte Blumenthal, New Media vice president at CTS Eventim AG and CEO of Tempodome.com.

“In 2009 we'll be everywhere and online with the entire world,” adds Holger Hübner, partner in the Wacken organiser ICS Festival Service. “The Wacken Rocks festivals and the Wacken Online live stream will be rocking the Web again this year!”

The programme of the Wacken Online live stream will be published in the weeks to come (updates at www.eventim.de/wacken_en and www.rockalarm.com)