Hi buddy.
You worry about a lot of things. Just don't overdo it, it's more relaxed than you'd think.
As for buying wellingtons on site? Size of say US12 and over available? And will there be enough to go around with 70,000 people at the event?
Wow, US12 is, like, European size 46 and above, that's really going into the direction where shops have only little numbers in stock. That could prove to be a problem. 'bout on site I don't know. There it's mostly army boots rather than those.
Better chance to get those somewhere in Hamburg. What kind of wellingtons you talking about? Cheap ones made of rubber?
And yes, packing for the whole day a little troublesome, but so be it. How safe with the car be in the carpark? Vandals around? Police watching our cars or? If we leave stuff in them for later use is that a problem? How far from the carpark to the events areas? Not going to cart everything around all day, will go back to the car towards night I think to pick up other items like jackets and such.
Have no experiences with the carpark. Always stay on the campground during the whole festival. But it's not that bad with vandals and thieves. Just make sure you hide everything of value in the car. Walking distance to festival areas is abt. 20 minutes.
What is food like at the show? What is available, or what has been available in years past?
You got a MASSIVE amount of food booths, offering almost anything and everything, from kebap, burgers, sausages, garlic bread, fries, to pizza, you even got some vegan meals. Meals on site are between 4,-€ and 7,-€ per meal. You gotta try some and talk to people. The different booths also differ in quality. It's always a good idea to try the offers in the Wackinger village. Also the Wacken village outside the festival area offers quite some awesome places, there it's also cheaper. The "chill-out lounge" next to the bus shuttle stop just across the street is marvelous, for example.
As no cameras are allowed into the stage areas, I am wondering if smart phones will be or not? They all have cameras...
Smartphones are allowed, as well as compact digital cameras. It's just that you may not bring professional looking ones or camcorders.
In addition is there cell signal in the area? 3G or 4G? Wifi offered in any of the areas?
Cell signal depends. Usually you got 4G, they have improved it over the years. Not bad, although when a lot of people are surfing, the bandwidth's not the best.
'bout Wifi, Wacken offers some hotspots with very limited range (they're marked by signs), but you gotta pay extra for Wifi at the Info Office. I think last year it was 8,-€ (flatrate) for all days.
How bad is the traffic going to be from Hamburg on up on a daily basis? Horrible?
Depends. There are some road works on the highways, so you might want to avoid travelling during rush hour times. Around Hamburg that's normally between 6 and 9 in the morning and between 3 and 6 PM.
Hamburg is a large scale traffic junction, so you have to consider that there's gonna be some traffic at all times. But usually it's only jammed at certain times. Oh, and be careful on Friday between 11AM and 6PM! Weekend traffic then.
Highway A7 around the Elbtunnel in both directions is mostly affected, if there are any jams, they're usually in that area. Travelling south, it usually starts at Schnelsen or so. Travelling north, it starts at Moorburg or Waltershof.
I think you will have the same issue in Germany, hot as hell in Florida and then cold has hell in Germany.
I just hope it doesn't rain at all like you guys had last year, that would be splendid! If it rains, man, what a mess.
Yeah, you can never tell. Nights get cold. 2013 was sweating hot, on Friday we had like 40°C with not a single cloud showing. 2012 it was all soaking wet. But one should always be prepared for a little shower now and then. In summertimes, there are always small, very local thunderstorms (nothing dangerous, but wet and windy), you can never tell if one of those hits the area. An hour later, it can be all sunny and hot again.
@MetallKopp, curious how long do the wellies take to wear in? I don't want blisters, if this is the case I may have to buy them locally here and break them in first, walking miles in a new pair of shoes doesn't seem too good for the feet.
Not sure what you prefer. I bought cheap army boots on site in 2012, they were only 60,-€ (special offer). They were good with all the mud, water and everything, but not very comfortable. I still get blisters if I don't strap them real tight. Was only a makeshift back then.
But this year I bought a pair of
these. You get them around 90 to 100 €. I tried it and it was TOTALLY WORTH IT. You don't need to break them in at all, they're just so fucking comfortable. And they got a sidezipper. And are waterproof. I didn't try to wear them on a festival, but I'm confident that it will be the best. I'm wearing them all the time.
Also, wearing proper boots socks can help.
Something like that. A little pricey, but hey.
