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Oktoberfest Grounds Briefly Closed in Munich Over Overcrowding

Officials announced a review of crowd messaging following the brief closure.

Overview

  • Organisers said visitor flows concentrated at the 17:00 table change created extreme density, prompting a roughly 30‑minute entry stop and a return to normal within about an hour.
  • Police urged people on X not to come, and U‑Bahn trains from the city temporarily skipped Theresienwiese to limit further inflows.
  • Wiesn chief Christian Scharpf reported a peak of about 300,000 people on the grounds at once and a halftime total of roughly 3.5 million visitors so far, slightly below last year.
  • No serious injuries were reported; the medical service treated two panic attacks and said its intake capacity was rapidly increased as a precaution.
  • Officials defended the safety concept, citing extensive policing and camera monitoring, while eyewitnesses and vendors criticized confusing announcements and crowd communication that will now be reviewed.