First-Ever Entrance Security Checks at Oktoberfest

• By Sydny Shepard
• May 02, 2016

People hoping to enter the Therensienwiese, the large open space where Oktoberfest is held each year, will have to pass through security checks, including bag checks, at all the entrances according to Munich authorities.

This will be the first year since the event’s founding in 1810, that there will be security check points at all points of entrance. Law officials of the area say the increased security is a result of the terrorist attacks around the globe and also the recent events in Cologne where some were victims of rampant sexual assaults.  

Authorities will also be expanding the security surrounding the event to include an increased amount of security guards. They have said they will not hesitate to block off the entire festival grounds with fences in order to control crowds.

Munich police have also asked that the festival be opened up an hour later than usual, at 10 a.m. rather than 9 a.m. in order to control the amount of public intoxication, a request that many find to be the most distressing of the new security plan.

“No one should be afraid to go to the festival,” deputy mayor Josef Schmid said to Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. “There is no concrete danger, but of course we are adjusting ourselves to the changed global context.”

Oktoberfest is the world’s largest Volksfest held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany and is a 16-day folk festival. This year the festival will be September 17 through October 3.