Overview
- The Munich economics department has drafted new Oktoberfest rules that will go to the newly elected city council for a decision on May 11.
- Beer tents could start music at 11 a.m. Monday to Friday and at 10 a.m. on the second and third weekend and on the holiday, with only traditional brass allowed until noon.
- The city also proposes a new coordination and observation center in the former lost-and-found rooms and video monitoring to spot crowd choke points earlier.
- The push follows the second Saturday of Oktoberfest 2025, when the walkway before the tents grew so packed that thousands could not move, and early loudspeaker messages failed to explain the overcrowding clearly.
- Immediate fixes from last year—targeted crowd spotting, multilingual announcements, and tighter observation in the service center—remain in place, and tent operators say earlier music could encourage guests to come and leave earlier.