Germany's Wacken hard rock festival gets beer pipeline

An underground beer pipeline is being laid for the Wacken Open Air (WOA) hard rock festival, which kicks off in northern Germany in August.

It is part of a new 7km (four-mile) pipeline network, which organisers say will make the event more eco-friendly.

The beer flow rate should reach six glasses every six seconds, thanks to the 35cm (14-inch) diameter pipeline.

WOA is one of the world's biggest heavy metal events. The line-up will include Megadeth, Alice Cooper and Trivium.

The venue is on the edge of a village in Schleswig-Holstein with 1,850 residents. This year WOA will feature 150 bands, pumping out their rock numbers from 3-5 August.

German media report that WOA, spread over three days, attracts about 75,000 heavy metal fans each year. Each one consumes on average 5.1 litres (nine pints) of beer during the festival.

On the WOA website the organisers say the pipelines are an investment to make the festival more sustainable and cost-effective.

Beer trucks will no longer churn up the fields every day to reach thirsty fans. The pipelines will meet strict hygiene standards, they stress.

Besides beer, pipelines will also be used to deliver water to the site and remove effluent from it.