This summer's German rock music festivals, including Rock Am Ring, Rock Im Park, Wacken Open Air and Bang Your Head!!!!, have been canceled after the German federal government banned all major events in the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic. German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced tentative steps to slowly start returning the country to normal, explaining that no large events such as soccer matches, concerts and festivals will be allowed before the end of August at the earliest. This comes in addition to personal lockdown, which has been extended through May 3. The Wacken festival organizers issued the following statement earlier today: "Dear Metalheads, "Yesterday, the German government decided that due to the Coronavirus pandemic, no mass gatherings will be allowed until August, 31st, 2020. We are facing an unprecented situation in our 30 years: It is with heavy hearts that we have to announce that there will be no Wacken Open Air this year. "Our whole team has been working intensively on the festival these last months and the more all of us are bitterly disappointed that we are not allowed to celebrate a Wacken Open Air with you. This administrative order affects us heavily and we will need some time to process the bad news. "Nevertheless, we support the decision of the German government in this difficult situation for the whole world. Your health and safety have always been and always will be our top priority. We as promoters are therefore bound to take an even greater responsibility and have to follow the instructions of the experts. "Concerning Wacken Open Air 2021 and options for your already bought tickets, we will reach out to you ASAP but ask for a little bit of patience whilst we work through this. We thank you for your trust during times which are unparalleled for all of us. "Stay healthy - In Metal We Trust!" Rock Am Ring, Rock Im Park, and Wacken Open Air were scheduled to take place from June 5-7 and July 30 to August 1, respectively. Taking place in the municipality of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, Wacken Open Air is the largest, most established heavy metal festival in the world. Wacken 2020 sold all 75,000 tickets in the space of a few hours, and was scheduled to entertain over 150 artists performing across eight stages over 280 hectares of land. According to Germany's Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the country has more than 127,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and has reported more than 3,250 deaths. The German government last month passed a stimulus package worth 750 billion euros in a bid to help ease the effect of the virus. A few days ago, Dr. Ezekiel "Zeke" Emanuel, a special adviser to the director general of the World Health Organization, told The New York Times that he doesn't anticipate it to be safe to return to concerts, sporting events and other mass public gatherings for another 18 months. While musical acts have postponed tours and other events to later this year or early 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Emanuel predicted "fall 2021 at the earliest" for people to return to such events.
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Dear Metalheads, yesterday, the German government decided that due to the Coronavirus pandemic, no mass gatherings will... Posted by Wacken Open Air on Thursday, April 16, 2020
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