Rebels with a cause! Two elderly men snuck out of their nursing home in Germany on Friday, August 3, to attend a heavy metal music festival.
Local police told the public radio and TV broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk that the staff at the nursing home contacted authorities after the men went missing from the residence. Police spokeswoman Merle Neufeld said the “disoriented and dazed” golden-aged metalheads were found at 3 a.m. at Wacken Open Air, the biggest heavy metal festival in the world.
According to police, the men were reluctant to leave the festival and had to be escorted back to their nursing home in a taxi and a patrol car.
“They obviously liked the metal festival,” Neufeld said. “The care home quickly organized a return transport after police picked them up.”
The annual four-day festival in the Wacken village of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, was first held in 1990 as a small event for approximately 800 fans. It has since become a massive tourist attraction, pulling in about 75,000 people each year. The headliners for this year’s sold-out show included Danzig, Judas Priest, Hatebreed, In Flames, Running Wild, Arch Enemy, In Extremo and Eskimo Callboy.
Wacken Open Air is widely known as one of the muddiest festivals in the world, but a recent heatwave saw organizers warning fans about the risks of dust and potential fires from barbecue sparks. The official website for the event offered information about where to purchase dust masks, in addition to telling people to drink plenty of water and seek protection from the sun when possible.
For access to all our exclusive celebrity videos and interviews – Subscribe on YouTube!
