On Saturday afternoon, September 27, the Oktoberfest reached a critical point.
Around 300,000 people crowded onto the Theresienwiese at the peak of the day, causing bottlenecks along the Wirtsbudenstraße.
At 5:25 p.m., the coordination committee made the unprecedented decision to close the festival grounds.
Police warned visitors on social media: “Do not come to the Oktoberfest!” Subway trains stopped calling at the nearby Wiesn stations, and new arrivals were turned away.
For about half an hour, entrances were sealed before the gates gradually reopened. By 6:30 p.m., the situation had normalized.
Reports of fear and panic in the crowd
While many festival-goers described their day as cheerful, others reported frightening moments.
BILD reporter John Puthenpurackal wrote that he was trapped in the crowd with no way forward or back, describing people crying and fearing they would be crushed.
Read also: Trash, noise and sleepless nights: What it’s like living next to Oktoberfest
Nina W., 36, a communications manager from Munich, compared the scene to the tragic 2010 Love Parade disaster in Duisburg, which she had personally experienced as a student.
She recalled waves of movement in the crowd lasting 40 minutes, saying: “It felt like history could repeat itself.”
Parents lifted children onto booths for safety, and some visitors later required treatment for panic attacks, though no physical injuries were reported.
Officials insist there was no mass panic
Festival organizers later rejected the claim of a mass panic. A spokesperson for the Oktoberfest press office confirmed there had been dangerous congestion during the table reservation changeover but emphasized that control was maintained.
Wiesn chief Christian Scharpf (SPD) admitted mistakes, acknowledging that the first announcements were vague and only in German, leaving many international visitors — especially Italians, who traditionally arrive in large numbers on that weekend — confused.
“The loudspeaker communication was not optimal,” he conceded.
Communication breakdown criticized
Reports suggest that internal miscommunication worsened the situation. Visitors were told to leave beer tents, though the coordination committee had issued no such order.
The first loudspeaker announcements failed to mention overcrowding as the reason for closure.
Focus later reported that even the agreed emergency protocol was not followed consistently. The lack of multilingual announcements at an event drawing millions of global tourists was widely criticized.
How decisions are made during the Oktoberfest
Crisis decisions are made by a coordination circle consisting of police, fire services, festival management, innkeepers, showmen, and public transport authorities.
From the central control room, camera feeds across the Theresienwiese are monitored, and instructions — from loudspeaker alerts to social media posts and messages on U-Bahn passenger screens — are issued.
The committee defended its decision to shut down access temporarily as necessary for public safety. Still, the chaotic scenes highlighted how quickly a festive atmosphere can turn tense when crowds swell beyond capacity.
