The Rock am Ring (German: Rock at the Ring) and Rock im Park (German: Rock in the Park) festivals are two simultaneous rock music festivals held annually. While Rock am Ring takes place at Mendig, Germany on an old airbase; Rock im Park takes place at the Zeppelinfeld in Nuremberg, in the south. Massive storms are pounding the area with lightning and rain. France is bracing for more storms as I write this. 72 people were hit by lightning at Rock am Ring, causing the authorities to pull the plug on the rock festival which attracts 92,000+ attendees a year. During a week of exceptionally heavy rain in Europe, at least 18 people were killed in flooding in Germany, France, Romania and Belgium. New thunderstorms are forecast for eastern France on Sunday and more rain elsewhere. More than 11,000 French homes are still without electricity and flooding is rampant.
From Metro:
Authorities in western Germany have pulled the plug on one of the country’s most popular open-air rock festivals because of a storm warning.
Organisers of Rock am Ring said on Sunday that they accepted the decision ‘out of responsibility for the welfare’ of the 90,000 festival-goers.
Scores of people were injured at the site near Mendig, 100 kilometres (62 miles) west of Frankfurt, when lightning and heavy rain struck the festival late on Friday. The German Red Cross said 72 people were taken to hospital.
Organizers were forced to cancel it after local authorities revoked the venue’s licence early on Sunday morning. Fans at Rock am Ring were told to clear the festival grounds by noon on Sunday. 8 of the 72 injured are in serious condition. The Rock am Ring festival – one of the most popular of its kind in Germany – also suffered lightning strikes last year, when 33 people were taken to the hospital. The festival website has repeatedly warned fans of the possibility of strong rainfall and thunderstorms. The organizers of Rock am Ring, now in its 31st year, initially said on Saturday that this year’s event would continue. It was due to have finished on Sunday evening. Red Hot Chili Peppers was headlined among several bands, including Black Sabbath, Foals, Deftones and We Are Scientists. Last weekend, 35 people were injured, three seriously, when lightning struck a football match in southwest Germany. A further 11 people were hurt by a lightning strike in a Paris park where a children’s birthday party was taking place. Sounds like mother nature is spoiling the fun of a lot of people in Europe.
Terresa Monroe-Hamilton is an editor and writer for Right Wing News. She owns and blogs at NoisyRoom.net. She is a Constitutional Conservative and NoisyRoom focuses on political and national issues of interest to the American public. Terresa is the editor at Trevor Loudon's site, New Zeal - trevorloudon.com. She also does research at KeyWiki.org. You can email Terresa here. NoisyRoom can be found on Facebook and on Twitter.