adminMUNICH. — The 188th Oktoberfest has come and gone after it came to an end on Sunday.
The grand old festival started on September 16.
It was not held in the last two years because of Covid-19 restrictions and the Central Agricultural Festival.
What happened in 2019 at Oktoberfest?
6.3 million visitors at the Oktoberfest
Even though the weather was more changeable than in 2018, the super figures of the previous year could once again be reached.
According to estimates by the festival management, 6.3 million guests came to the Oktoberfest.
The total number of visitors included around 550,000 who came for the Oktoberfest.
It once again lived up to its reputation as the largest folk festival in the world with guests from the following countries in the top 10, according to the number of visitors — the USA, the UK, France, Austria, Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Australia, Sweden and Denmark.
In addition, visitors from a further 45 nations came to the Festival of Festivals — Argentina, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, China, Ecuador, Finland, Hong Kong, India, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, South Korea, Czech Republic, Turkey, Hungary, United Arab Emirates and Cyprus.
The Oktoberfest guests drank a total of 7.3 million litres of beer in 2019, according to the balance sheet of the breweries, which, like the innkeepers, showed themselves to be “very satisfied” with the size of the event.
In 2018 the figure was 7.5 million.
The stewards took 96,912 beer mugs from souvenir hunters in the tents and at the exits of the festival grounds.
When will Oktoberfest will start in 2023
The traditional Wiesn tapping is planned for Saturday, September 16, 2023 at 12 noon.
Then Lord Mayor Dieter Reiter will open the world’s largest folk festival again with the traditional “O’zapft is!”.
Other traditional events around the Wiesn are also on the programme again – the parade of the Wiesnwirte onto the festival grounds, the large procession of traditional costumes and marksmen on the first Sunday of the Oktoberfest, the stand-up concert under the Bavaria or the firecracker shooting. — www.oktoberfest.de.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter