Oktoberfest opens in Munich today with a security plan rebuilt around crowd flow rather than headcount, after the grounds became dangerously congested during the 2025 festival and officials were forced to shut the entrances for a time.
The city has added 26 cameras to the 56 already run by police, and an AI system will now read the footage for visitor flow and raise an alert when an area starts to tip into overcrowding. A newly created coordination centre is meant to close the gap between the security agencies and the festival's organisers, and 600 officers will be on the Theresienwiese. Organisers and police have also drawn up a counter-drone plan for the airspace above the site, the details of which have not been made public.
The pressure point is structural rather than accidental. Almost all of the 38 beer tents run two or three reservation shifts, and the 14 large tents each hold several thousand people, so a changeover sends one crowd towards the exits while an equally large one arrives at the doors. On one Saturday afternoon last year the density on the 34.5-hectare site was such that movement stopped altogether and some visitors panicked.
The 191st Wiesn runs to 4 October and is expected to draw more than six million people. A Mass costs between €14.80 and €15.90 this year, a marginal rise, while a litre of table water runs to €11 — though the grounds carry free drinking fountains. A city-commissioned study of the 2025 edition found the festival is far more local than its global reputation suggests: three-quarters of visitors came from Bavaria, and about 21 per cent from abroad, with Americans the largest overseas group.
German fairground culture was added to UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list this year, and roughly 90 per cent of the festival's 130-plus ride and stall operators trace their businesses to the 19th century. The ceremonial first tap by Munich's mayor — twelve gunshots signalling the tents may start serving — opens proceedings at noon.
Source
Original summary by Proventier.