Overview

• Mayor Dieter Reiter tapped the first keg with two blows at noon in the Schottenhamel tent, proclaimed "O'zapft is," and handed the first Maß to Bavarian premier Markus Söder.
• The festival runs from 20 September to 5 October with several million visitors expected, and beer in the tents generally priced around €14.50 to €15.80, with some higher charges reported.
• Fans queued before dawn and flooded the grounds at 9 a.m. to secure tables, with beer service starting only after the official tapping and some tents later closing due to overcrowding.
• Munich police deployed about 600 officers and expanded a knife ban to the area around the grounds, noting a high abstract threat level but no concrete indications of an attack.
• Hot weather pushed medical responses to more than 130 treatments by early afternoon, and a 70-year-old woman died in the showmen's caravan area before the official opening.