The Wheels of Steel Area is an area for camping with low barriers and support services for people with disabilities. This does not include full nursing care. The area has low-barrier sanitary containers and toilets as well as a breakfast tent with an integrated kiosk and merchandise stand. The Alsterarbeit Service Point is located directly at the main entrance to the area and, like all pagodas, is barrier-free. Physiotherapy is integrated into the Service Point.The area is completed by a mobile wristband exchange and 2 terminals for charging cashless payment. You can reach your tents, the sanitary containers and pagodas on the camping area via a paved path. To ensure that the paths in the Wheels of Steel area remain easy to walk or drive on for all visitors, vehicles over 3.5 tons are not permitted.
You can reach the festival infield via a paved path directly adjacent to the Wheels of Steel Area.
WHICH TICKET DO I NEED?
To participate in the Wacken Open Air you need an active and regular W:O:A festival ticket.There are no special tickets for people with disabilities. If you are in possession of a regular festival ticket and a disabled pass with a registered letter (B, G, aG, H, BL) you meet the basic requirements for camping in the Wheels of Steel area. Please note that this does not mean that you have automatically reserved a spot at the Wheels of Steel Area. You can book plots in the area with these basic requirements as soon as they are released for booking. Information will be communicated as soon as possible.
Companions
Camping in the Wheels of Steel Area is permitted with a maximum of 5 people per group. This group already includes the person with a disabled person's pass and the permanent accompanying person (code letter "B").
MARK LETTER "B" - PERMANENT ACCOMPANYING PERSON
If you have the letter "B" in your disabled person's ID card, you are entitled to take your permanent companion to the festival free of charge.
During the booking process for camping pitches in the Wheels of Steel Area, you will be asked to enter your disability code digitally. If you enter the code "B" in this query, a so-called companion ticket will be issued for your permanent companion. Holder of the disabled pass and the permanent accompanying person, will receive their festival wristband after presenting their tickets and the disabled pass. If you do not provide truthful information on the letter "B", the accompanying ticket will be declared invalid.
Note:
As we have seen in past years, a festival field can get quite muddy in heavy rain and please note that you may have to cover long distances on the festival grounds and not all paths are barrier-free. You should therefore choose your permanent companion so that they can take you to the stages in your wheelchair and also pull you out of the mud. We are constantly working to remove barriers at Wacken Open Air. Nevertheless, the festival takes place on a field. Please keep this in mind when planning your visit.
SEVERELY DISABLED PERSON'S PASS NOT AVAILABLE
If you do not have a severely disabled person's pass, because you are not from Germany or the pass has not yet been issued, we would ask you to write to our contact persons at Alsterarbeit.
Please contact: wacken@alsterarbeit.de
PLOTS
To camp in the Wheels of Steel area, you need to book plots. You can book up to 4 plots with or without electricity. Combined bookings are not possible! If you need electricity, we would like to point out that this is only intended for medical equipment. 24h power supply cannot be guaranteed. Power requirements for refrigerators, music and lighting systems as well as charging cell phones or similar must be provided by a mobile power station.
Information about booking plots will be provided as soon as possible. For all other questions, please contact us at inclusion@wacken.com
SANITARY CAMP S2
In addition to the standard S2 sanitary stations, the Wheels of Steel area also has low-barrier shower/WC containers and low-barrier mobile toilets. Further low-barrier toilets are located throughout the festival site. These are marked on the site plan, which will be published shortly before the festival. There will be a station for cleaning wheelchairs and rollators in the sanitary camp S2. This will allow you to clean your aids before showering if the floor is soaked. Please take advantage of this opportunity so that the drains in the showers do not get blocked.
ALSTERARBEIT
If you need medical aids for your festival visit, such as a wheelchair or walker, you can borrow these from Alsterarbeit. Please register your needs as early as possible so that they can be provided for you. Please use the following email address to register: wacken@alsterarbeit.de
At the Service Point in the Wheels of Steel area, Alsterarbeit offers repairs and maintenance for assistive devices at cost price.
The Service Point at the Wheels of Steel will be staffed for you during the festival between 10:00 and 22:00. Alsterarbeit, part of the Evangelische Stiftung Alsterdorf, is an educational and employment provider with a diverse range of services. The offers are aimed at participation in working life and vocational training.
The target group is people with a disability who, due to the nature or severity of their disability, are not, not yet or not yet able to find employment on the general labor market.
Alsterarbeit: https://www.alsterarbeit.de/start/
MEDICATIONS
Please notify Alsterarbeit in advance of any medicines that are to be stored for cooling during the festival. This will ensure that there is enough space for all medicines. Medication according to the narcotics Act (only in conjunction with a certificate) must also be registered via Alsterarbeit before the festival and presented for inspection at the Service Point in the Wheels of Steel area immediately after arrival.
Please contact Alsterarbeit before the festival: wacken@alsterarbeit.de
MEDICAL DEVICES
Only officially approved aids are permitted in the infield. Camping chairs, tripod, telescopic and cardboard stools and any kind of self-made aids are not permitted in the infield for safety reasons! Pushing and pulling devices, hand bikes, battery-powered support systems and all other attachments must be registered and marked.Visitors who wish to borrow a wheelchair or rollator for a small rental fee can do so via Alsterarbeit. Wheelchairs, rollators, forearm crutches or canes for the blind do not need to be registered. Insulin and adrenaline pens are also excluded from this regulation.
Please be sure to contact Alsterarbeit before the festival: wacken@alsterarbeit.de
BAGS AND BACKPACKS
Backpacks or bags containing your medication or medical aids must be registered before the festival and checked and marked at the Alsterarbeit Service Point in the Wheels of Steel Area after your arrival. If your bag does not correspond to the specified size of 30cm x 20cm x 5cm, but is necessary for health reasons, this bag must also be checked and marked. Please also go to the Alsterarbeit Service Point for this purpose.
Please contact Alsterarbeit before the festival: wacken@alsterarbeit.de
LIQUID OXYGEN
Liquid oxygen will be provided by Alsterarbeit at the Service Point in the Wheels of Steel Area. The trained team will only fill mobile systems, so-called strollers.To ensure that the high safety standard can also be maintained during filling, it is essential that information on models and manufacturers is sent to Alsterarbeit in good time before the festival. Alsterarbeit has an extensive network of medical equipment and is happy to provide support.
Please contact Alsterarbeit before the festival: wacken@alsterarbeit.de
PHYSIOTHERAPY
The festival can demand a lot from you physically, especially in bad weather. So that you can have tensions treated directly, we give you the opportunity for physiotherapy.The Alsterarbeit physiotherapists are available for you every day during the festival from 10:00 to 22:00. A flexible appointment can be offered via the self-sufficient team. Please ask the therapists about this. It is not necessary to register before the festival
FESTIVAL COUNSELING
Festival Counseling: The Festival counseling team aims to provide all visitors and all those who work or are involved in the festival with a safe space for discussion and support. The crew listens, focuses on the needs of those affected and tries to strengthen their resources and strengths in order to be able to take possible next steps. Confidential conversations can take place in the "Festival-Seelsorge" tent. It is available between 1 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. on the festival ground next to the tent of the DRK paramedics, the Wacken Foundation and there is a "mobile Team" on the Infield. The Festival counseling will also be on the W:O:A 2024 site plan.
STAGE PLEDGES
There are platforms in front of the stages to provide a better view of the stages. These platforms are primarily reserved for wheelchair users. Please understand that the security staff will not allow any accompanying persons onto the platforms for the time being if there is a large crowd. Furthermore, people with the letter "H" on their disabled person's pass can also be accommodated here, provided this is available. Here too, the security staff at the respective platforms will decide on a case-by-case basis.
Inclusion at Wacken Open Air can only be optimized with you. We are happy to receive questions, suggestions and feedback at any time at inclusion@wacken.com
