On Saturday, Oktoberfest starts in Munich, over six million visitors are expected

Berlin/Munich, September 19 - On Saturday, at exactly noon, Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter will tap a keg of beer, opening the 190th annual Oktoberfest beer festival. Forecasts promise summer weather on the first day of the event, with temperatures that could climb to thirty degrees. Organizers estimate that more than six million people will arrive at the festival by October 5. Their safety will be overseen by 600 police officers and up to 1,600 security company employees. A pint of the golden drink will again be sold more expensively this year than last year. It will cost 14.50 to 15.80 €.

Last year, around 6.7 million people arrived at Munich's Theresienwiese, drinking seven million mugs of beer. A mug is equivalent to one liter. Last year, people paid 13.60 to 15.30 euros for it. Since 2004, the price of beer at the festival has more than doubled. Back then, it cost between 6.70 and 7.10 euros. Innkeepers explain the price increase by inflation, higher expenses for wages and services, and a general increase in costs. In addition to beer, non-alcoholic beverages will also be more expensive this year, according to the organizers. A liter of table water will cost an average of 10.95 euros, lemonade will cost 12.11 euros. However, there will also be ten places on the premises where people will be able to pour water for free.

This year, the world's largest folk festival will once again be under strict security measures. They will be supervised by 600 police officers and 1,200 to 1,600 private security employees. As last year, there will be random checks at the entrances, and hand-held metal detectors will once again be used. The aim is to prevent anyone from bringing dangerous objects, especially knives, into the area. A new feature this year is the extension of the area where knives are not allowed to be carried to the area around the festival grounds.

Drones are also not allowed to fly over the Theresienwiese meadow this year; last year, the police recorded 16 of them. "The consumption of marijuana is also prohibited throughout the festival grounds and will not be tolerated," emphasized Christian Huber, vice president of the Bavarian police, when presenting the security concept. German police officers are regularly helped by their colleagues from abroad, including the Czech Republic, to combat pickpockets, who are also attracted to the beer festival. In addition, the area will be monitored by 54 security cameras.

Last year, Bavaria significantly tightened security measures due to the August terrorist attack in Solingen, where a Syrian man murdered three people at a city festival. Last week, a court sentenced him to life in prison. Shortly before the start of last year's Oktoberfest, a terrorist attack also took place in Munich itself. The target of the shooting by a young Islamist from Austria was the Israeli Consulate General and the Documentation Center for the History of Nazism. Due to the size and popularity of the beer festival, police officers again assess the risk of an attack this year as "high, but abstract." "We have no concrete information that would indicate that an attack or anything else is imminent," emphasized Police Vice President Huber.

This year, the police want to pay special attention to crimes of a sexual nature, such as harassment or so-called upskirting, i.e. taking photos or filming the intimate parts of strangers. A new measure is the ban on renting and parking electric scooters around the area after five in the afternoon until early morning. The aim of this measure is to prevent drunk people from riding them. In the past, this has led to a number of serious injuries.

If any injuries occur during the celebrations, medical personnel will be on hand in the area, who will also have a mobile computer tomograph at their disposal. There will also be 20 observation beds in the medical centers for medical supervision of people who overindulge.

On Saturday at noon, however, attention will first be focused on how many attempts Mayor Reiter will take to knock over the first keg of beer in the Schottenhamel family's giant festival tent. Last year and the year before, two strokes were enough for him. Once the mayor has succeeded, he shouts "O'zapft is!", meaning that the keg has been tapped and Oktoberfest has officially begun. The first beer from the tapped keg belongs to Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder, who then toasts the festival with Reiter for a happy and peaceful run.

When the gates of the Theresienwiese open to the public, visitors will be able to buy souvenirs and ride the merry-go-rounds, but the biggest attraction is the giant beer tents. The largest have an internal capacity of around 6,000 guests and workers began building them at the beginning of the summer.

The festival began in October 1810, when, after their wedding, the Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig and his wife Theresa of Saxony-Hildburghausen held a horse race for the people of the kingdom in a meadow outside Munich. The event was a success and became a regular event known as the October Festival. It retained its name even after the organizers moved the start of the festival to September due to warmer weather.

Czech press agency | WT.24