Germany 6.5 million visitors and the same number of beer masses at the Oktoberfest
Around 6.5 million liters of beer, 764 tons of waste and 4500 found objects: at the end of the Oktoberfest in Munich, the festival organizers have drawn a largely positive balance.
05.10.2025, 14:24
SDA
According to initial estimates, around 6.5 million guests came to the Theresienwiese over the 16 days, as the city of Munich announced on Sunday. This was slightly less than last year's figure of 6.7 million visitors, mainly due to the closure of the Wiesn on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, a 57-year-old man paralyzed parts of the city and in particular the Oktoberfest for hours in an escalated family dispute. The suspect allegedly killed his father, injured his mother and daughter and committed suicide. As he had made a bomb threat against the Oktoberfest, the festival grounds remained closed for more than seven hours.
The attraction of the Wiesn remains unbroken despite the rapid ups and downs, explained the City of Munich. The festival management, showmen, market traders and innkeepers expressed their satisfaction at the end of the festival.
The public holiday on October 3 was "the day with the most visitors", despite a one-hour closure due to the threat of overcrowding, as Wiesn boss Christian Scharpf explained. On a normal weekday, 200,000 to 250,000 guests visited the festival grounds. On average, around 21 percent of visitors came from abroad, most of them from the USA, Italy, Great Britain, Austria, Poland, Spain, France, India and Sweden.
The large Wiesn hosts recorded an increase of up to six percent in food, excluding chicken, while the smaller tents reported an increase of up to four percent. Around 6.5 million liters of beer were served, compared to seven million the previous year. Stewards prevented 116,000 cases of stein theft.
By Sunday, an estimated 4500 lost property items had been registered. That is 400 or ten percent more than in the previous year. Lost items included 1,100 items of clothing, 800 wallets, 600 ID cards, 400 smartphones, 370 keys, 280 pairs of glasses or sunglasses, 150 bags, rucksacks and pouches and 40 hats and watches. Around 900 items were returned during the Wiesn.
The Munich waste management company disposed of a total of 764 tons of waste up to and including Friday. This was around 12.4 percent less than in the same period last year.
The police spoke of normal operations at the Wiesn. The number of incidents was in line with the previous year. The emergency services reported 28 percent more call-outs than during last year's Oktoberfest, particularly due to the first weekend of heat.
