Oktoberfest Starts Its 189th Edition In Munich

Oktoberfest has officially begun. Mayor Dieter Reiter kicked off the festival at noon on Saturday by tapping the first beer keg, signaling the start of the 189th Oktoberfest.

An estimated 6 million visitors are expected over the 16-day festival—up to 600,000 per day—with a 1-liter mug of beer priced between 13.60 and 15.30 euros ($15.12 to $17.01).

Thousands of beer lovers celebrated at the Munich fairground, with the first toasting their mugs during the world’s largest folk festival, Stefanie Dazio reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Servers immediately began ferrying trays—each carrying up to eight glass mugs—to tables.

Revelers started clinking their mugs and taking deep gulps of beer in the stuffy heat of the tent.

The celebration runs through October 6 in 18 large tents spread across the Theresienwiese fairground. This year’s festival features enhanced security following a deadly knife attack in Solingen on August 23, which left three people dead and eight others wounded.

Tens of thousands lined the streets early on Saturday to watch the opening parade, while others rushed to claim tables inside the tents.

Many gossiped, played cards, and wandered around the fairgrounds, checking out food options and amusement park rides as they waited for the drinking to begin.

Despite efforts by security officers to keep order, revelers sprinted through the fairgrounds as soon as the entrances opened at 9 a.m. Some laughed and shouted, “Why are we running?!” as they raced to be first in line for the tents.

An estimated 6 million visitors are expected over the 16-day festival—up to 600,000 per day—with a 1-liter mug of beer priced between 13.60 and 15.30 euros ($15.12 to $17.01). This year’s prices are approximately 3.87% higher than in 2023.