Oktoberfest overcrowding sparks safety concerns

Halfway through Oktoberfest, which runs this year from September 20 to October 5 in Munich, questions on crowd control are now arising following the closure of the festival grounds’ entrances for around 30 minutes on Saturday.

A loudspeaker announcement in German urged visitors to leave the festival without any explanation, leading to additional confusion.

Some visitors later complained on social media about how they felt trapped in the crowd. “It was close to mass panic,” one woman wrote on Instagram, saying she feared being “trampled to death and knocked over.” Another described the situation as “extremely dangerous,” with people screaming and crying. 

Many Oktoberfest visitors reported bottlenecks. As this TikTok video shows, many people stuck on the site could not even move in one direction or the other:

Two visitors had to be treated for panic attacks, but there were no injuries, according to reports.

“It wasn’t foreseeable that it would all fill up so quickly,” explained event manager Christian Scharpf. 

What was behind the surge of visitors and temporary closure?

Tents at Oktoberfest — or on the Wiesn, as the festival is locally known — operate in two shifts; the day shift and the evening shift. The switch usually takes place at 5 p.m. The bottlenecks were caused by too many people trying to enter and exit the tents at the same time.

According to a Munich city spokeswoman, at around 5 p.m. there were some 300,000 visitors on the Theresienwiese festival grounds. 

That’s why the entrances were temporarily closed, until visitors who were already on site had found their new spots in the tents. Subways coming from the city center didn’t stop at the Theresienwiese station during the closure, and the police made an announcement on social media: “Please avoid visiting Oktoberfest at this time.”

The incident is unusual, but not unprecedented, explained the Munich spokeswoman, who said that there have been several occasions in the past when the grounds had to be closed temporarily.

Less beer and more water at Oktoberfest

Having reached its halfway point, Oktoberfest has also released data on this year’s attendance and sales. 

Despite the overcrowding, the number of visitors is slightly down compared to the turnout for the same period last year. Festival organizers estimate that, as of last Sunday, around 3.5 million visitors had so far visited Oktoberfest. Last year, that figure was 3.6 million.

Beer consumption, too, has so far been below last year’s level. Perhaps no wonder, since a Mass (a 1-liter mug) costs between €14.50 and €15.80 ($17.20 – $18.60) at the Wiesn this year. Only a few venues are offering them for less than €15.

On the other hand, significantly more non-alcoholic beverages were consumed — especially water; about 10% more than in 2024. Water was even sold out at some stands. Organizers suspect that this is due to the warm weather, with temperatures reaching 30.7 degrees Celsius (87.2°F) on the first weekend of the festival — Oktoberfest’s highest since records began in 1879.

More crimes reported

By the weekend, Munich police had reported 414 crimes — compared to 317 for the same period last year, and 479 in 2023. So far, officers have responded to 833 incidents, which is fewer than in 2024, with 901 incidents. Many of those were reports of physical assault, disorderly conduct or disputes.

The number of sexual offenses is on par with previous years, with 33 reports so far. The majority of these cases involve sexual harassment or secretly taking photographs up women’s skirts — what’s known as upskirting.

According to the organizers, a clear hit song at this year’s Wiesn hasn’t emerged yet, but “Wackelkontakt” by Bavarian singer Oimara is being played very frequently in the festival tents. The most popular line to sing along to translates to “If I were a piece of furniture, I’d be a lamp from the 70s.”

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This article was originally written in German.