NUERBURG, Germany – The Rock am Ring festival at the Nuernburgring race track, a three-day festival held June 2-4 featuring headliners Rammstein, Die Toten Hosen, and System of a Down, was cut short by authorities on Friday, June 2 due to concerns of a possible terror threat before Rammstein could take the stage.
After the festival director came on the stage mid-song for one of the other acts, some 80,000 attendees headed to the camping areas without further incident. After the grounds were thoroughly searched, the festival resumed the next day. The related Rock im Park festival, also held June 2-4, but in Nuremberg, was not affected.
Initially circumspect about the reasons for the evacuation, authorities later revealed that three people were discovered without proper credentials backstage, and one, of non-German origin, was believed to have possible ties to a terror group. The three were detained, questioned and released when no further risk of terror was deemed imminent, and the festival was allowed to proceed June 3 and 4.
Concert officials looking after the safety of fans have been on high alert since a suicide bomber killed himself and 22 others as attendees were exiting Manchester Arena just after an Ariana Grande concert.
The Rock Am Ring evacuation happened the night before yet another terror attack in the U.K. The June 3 attacks on London Bridge and Borough Market killed seven and wounded 48. Three attackers were also killed by police.
