Every autumn, Munich’s Theresienwiese becomes the beating heart of Oktoberfest. For millions of visitors, it’s a world of beer tents, music and celebration.
For those living in the surrounding neighborhoods, however, the world’s biggest folk festival brings a very different reality: sleepless nights, overflowing bins and streets littered with bottles and vomit.
Local residents describe life during the two-week festival as an annual endurance test — with a mix of tolerance, humor and relief once the event is over.
Living next to Oktoberfest: Streets turned upside down
Walking from Hackerbrücke toward the festival grounds, it doesn’t take long to spot signs of overindulgence: drunk revelers weaving through the streets, fast food wrappers piled up on bins, and sticky traces of the previous night’s excesses.
By morning, sidewalks are often covered with bottles, food packaging and sometimes unpleasant stains of vomit or even blood.
City cleaning crews work tirelessly, but the sheer volume of waste means residents still encounter plenty of mess before it’s cleared away.
“Free Wiesn radio” from the window
Yanick Thalmann has lived for five years in a block overlooking Schwanthalerhöhe, right on Oktoberfest’s doorstep.
With his windows open, he jokes that he gets “free Wiesn radio” — whether he wants it or not.
While he takes the noise in stride, he admits that daily routines require extra planning.
Grocery shopping on weekends becomes nearly impossible, and trips across the city demand more time as trams and U-Bahn trains are overcrowded.
“Sometimes you even find vomit trails or blood stains by the entrance,” he says, pointing to his building.
Even so, he credits the city’s sanitation workers for keeping things under control as best they can.
Digital help for residents
Since last year, Munich has offered a digital reporting service for residents affected by festival-related mess.
Through the online portal machmuenchenbesser.de, locals can flag issues such as broken glass, trash or soiled building entrances.
Reports filed before 10 a.m. are usually addressed the same day, with cleaning teams dispatched to tackle even private property areas — a step beyond normal municipal street cleaning.
City officials say the service was designed specifically to help those bearing the brunt of Oktoberfest’s impact.
“Two weeks are enough”
For Philipp Naumann, who lives in the Westend and works next to the Theresienwiese, Oktoberfest is more of an inconvenience than a burden.
He appreciates the liveliness it brings to Munich, but he too adjusts his commute to avoid the heaviest crowds.
Both Naumann and Thalmann agree on one thing: after more than two weeks of constant noise and disruption, they are relieved when the festival ends and normal city life returns.
“Oktoberfest is fun,” one resident put it simply, “but two weeks are more than enough.”
