Munich opens 191st Oktoberfest with AI crowd controls and two-stroke keg tap

Opening ceremony and mayoral debut

Munich Mayor Dominik Krause opened the 191st Oktoberfest on Saturday, 19 September 2026, by tapping the first beer keg in the Schottenhamel tent. Krause, a 36-year-old member of the Green Party who took office in May, drove the tap into the barrel with two hammer strokes before declaring the traditional Bavarian phrase "O'zapft is" ("It's been tapped"). He then served the inaugural one-liter stein (Maß) to Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder of the Christian Social Union. The ceremony followed training sessions Krause held with a tapping coach to match the two-stroke record of his predecessor, Dieter Reiter. Cannon salutes sounded across the fairground as the politicians raised their glasses to toast a peaceful festival.

Söder praised the mayor's first official tapping performance immediately after the ceremony.

“It was very professional. He did it very, very well.”

Fairground crowds and festival traditions

Tens of thousands of festival visitors entered the Theresienwiese grounds after gates opened shortly after 09:00. Attendees arrived in traditional Bavarian garments, including lederhosen and dirndls, rushing to secure bench seating inside the main beer tents. Tables quickly filled with traditional food orders, including pretzels, roast pork, and sausages, as live brass bands began playing. Notable attendees at the Schottenhamel tent included Bayern Munich footballer Joshua Kimmich, television presenter Florian Silbereisen, singer DJ Ötzi, and Munich Philharmonic conductor Lahav Shani. Foreign travelers, including visitors from the United States and New Zealand, joined regional guests from Munich and southern Germany for the opening day.

Security operations and surveillance technology

Authorities reinforced safety measures across the fairground following temporary closures caused by overcrowding at the previous year's event. Munich police deployed more than 50 artificial intelligence cameras across the venue to monitor crowd density and detect hazardous surges in real time. A central coordination station oversees visitor flows and directs entry management by letting attendees in through phased groups. Around 600 police officers patrol the festival grounds alongside Bavarian riot units, specialized pickpocket investigators, and task forces from eight foreign countries. Festival rules strictly prohibit knives, large backpacks, flying objects such as drones, and cannabis consumption throughout the 16-day event.

Memorial tribute, beer prices, and Olympic bid

Krause introduced a commemorative pause during the morning carriage procession of brewery owners and tent operators toward the festival grounds. The procession stopped at the main entrance for a moment of silence honoring the victims of the 26 September 1980 Oktoberfest bomb attack. That explosion, carried out by right-wing extremist Gundolf Köhler, killed 12 visitors, injured around 200 people, and resulted in Köhler's death. Before the tapping ceremony, Söder utilized the gathering to promote Munich's campaign to host future Olympic Games, expressing hope that the city will hold confirmed Olympic status by the 2027 festival. Beer prices at the 191st edition range between 14.80 and 15.90 euros per liter, reflecting an average increase of 2.38% over the previous year, while total attendance through 4 October 2026 is projected at roughly six million visitors.