Wacken organizers want to see blood

Under the motto "Bring us your blood!", a joint blood donation campaign by Wacken Open Air, the Wacken Foundation and the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) will take place in Hamburg from Monday, March 20th to March 24th. In addition to delicious food, there will also be a Wacken Foundation raffle during the Wacken blood donation week in Hamburg-Eppendorf, the organizers of the Wacken Open Air announced. All proceeds from the tombola will benefit the Wacken Foundation, which will use it to support young musicians.

More blood donations are currently needed than usual. One reason for this is the large wave of infectious diseases, which has caused fewer people to donate than usual in recent months. At the UKE in Hamburg, 3,000 blood donations are needed every month.

The premises for the Wacken blood donation can be found in the UKE at Martinistraße 52, building Ost 38 on the ground floor. Donations can be made Monday, Thursday and Friday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesday and Wednesday from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. Any healthy person over the age of 18 with a body weight of at least 50 kilograms may donate. You must bring your ID with you.

The metal festival "Wacken Open Air" has been held annually since 1990 on the first weekend in August in the municipality of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein. With around 85,000 visitors recently, it is considered one of the largest heavy metal festivals in the world and one of the largest open-air festivals in Germany. The organizers have called for blood donations several times. For past events in the Klinikum Itzehoe, decorations were made in the "W:O:A" style and heavy metal was played.

The DKMS (formerly the German Bone Marrow Donor File) has also been supported since 2014 – festival visitors can register as possible donors and have them typed. The next Wacken Festival will take place from August 2nd to 5th.

The non-profit Wacken Foundation was founded in 2009 with the aim of supporting up-and-coming bands from the heavy metal genre.