Journalist, Line Producer & Filmmaker
My seat neighbour and me on the way to Wacken – the „before“ photo © Sonja Blaschke

Next stop:
Wacken Open Air

For my first visit to Wacken, I’ll be looking beyond the line-up – at festival culture, international audiences and the connections between Japan and Europe.

After years of travelling to rock and metal shows across Asia and Europe, I’m excited to experience Wacken Open Air in northern Germany for the first time and gain a behind-the-scenes insight into one of the world’s best-known metal festivals.

After 20 years as a German living in Asia, my first German metal festival may come with a little reverse culture shock. I’m curious to see what feels familiar, what feels different and how Wacken compares with the festivals and live-music culture I know from Japan and elsewhere in the world.

The visit also feels like an opportunity to reconnect with an earlier part of my professional life and explore where my experience in journalism, international production and cross-cultural communication might meet my long-standing interest in live music.

See you in Wacken.🤘

For updates, consider following my (live) music account:

instagram.com/itravelformetal