Rainy Oktoberfest comes to an end – 5.7 million visitors

Ad

the essentials in brief

• This Monday the first Oktoberfest came to an end after a two-year Corona break.
• Because of the bad weather, fewer visitors were recorded than before the pandemic.

After a two-year Corona break, there was another Oktoberfest in Munich: with fewer visitors, but also significantly fewer operations for the fire brigade and police.

In the wet and cold, around 5.7 million visitors came to the first Oktoberfest after a two-year Corona break, according to the festival management. This corresponds to more than half a million fewer than at the last Wiesn before the pandemic in 2019. At that time there were 6.3 million.

The weather was the main obstacle, said festival director Clemens Baumgärtner (CSU) at the end of the festival on Monday. He spoke of the worst Oktoberfest weather in 20 years.

Nevertheless, the festival attracted a relaxed, cheerful and young audience. “The Wiesn is back.” He did not see Corona, money worries or the war in Ukraine as the primary reasons for the decline in visitors.

The showmen suffered

Fewer guests also drank less beer: 5.6 million liters went through their throats (2019: 7.3 million liters). Because of the weather, the festival management had allowed mulled wine to be served, but it was only moderately popular. Above all, the showmen suffered – in the pouring rain, only a few guests climbed into the rides.

Gas, electricity and water consumption fell. The police, fire brigade and medical service reported a quiet Wiesn with fewer deployments in many areas.

The Oktoberfest medical station recorded around 27 percent fewer calls – and was even able to take in other patients who could not find accommodation in clinics. The police spoke of a peaceful process. However, the increase in pickpocketing by around 50 percent is worrying.

The festival was more Munich and younger: More guests than usual came from the Munich area, and they were younger on average. This was also shown by the evaluation of anonymized and aggregated data from the mobile phone provider O2 Telefonica.