That’s it! The 190th Wiesn came to an end on October 5th and what a Wiesn it was! From big celebrities to heat records and site closures, everything was there. This means that this year’s Oktoberfest has already made history. In our Oktoberfest review, we take a look back at the Wiesn for you.
The Oktoberfest in numbers
The first Oktoberfest weekend started with fantastic weather, sunshine and temperatures of up to 31 degrees. According to the German Weather Service, this is a new heat record for the Wiesn opening. As a result, fans, hand fans and ice cream were in particularly high demand.
This year’s visitor numbers were less record-breaking. This year’s Wiesn attracted 6.5 million guests. This means that the number of visitors fell again compared to the previous year. In 2024, 6.7 million people attended the event, in 2023 it was as many as 7.2 million! There was also a decline in beer sales: 6.5 million liters were sold, compared to 7 and 7.4 million respectively in the last two years. In contrast, the food service industry grew by around 5 to 6%.
And this year also saw an increase in (attempted) stein theft. 116,000 steins disappeared from festival tents and beer gardens and were collected again by staff, compared to a modest 98,000 in 2024. A total of 4,500 lost property items were handed in, a thousand more than in the previous year. In addition to the usual items such as cell phones, keys and wallets, there were also some curious ones, such as an accordion and a complete cutlery box and its contents!
Oktoberfest review: These celebrities were guests
The Oktoberfest has always been a celebrity magnet, so this year numerous national and international personalities from show business and the sports industry were once again in attendance. The highlight was of course the visit by global star Drake, who was there on the opening Saturday after his concerts in Munich at the end of September. But other music stars such as Shirin David and the Kaulitz twins were also there. And when Tom Kaulitz goes to the Wiesn, his wife Heidi Klum and her family are of course not far away. Heidi Klum also celebrated her own Wiesn party in the Hofbräu-Haus the day before the grand opening.
FC Bayern Munich also doesn’t miss out on the Oktoberfest fun. The traditional Oktoberfest visit took place on the last Sunday of the festival. Players such as Joshua Kimmich and Harry Kane were joined by their families and friends. Other well-known visitors included actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lilly Becker, Thomas Gottschalk, influencer Cathy Hummels and Prince Frédéric von Anhalt.
Closures of the Wiesn
Despite the overall lower number of visitors, the crowds were so large on some days that the festival grounds had to be temporarily closed. On the Saturday of the Italian weekend, a particularly large number of people gathered in front of the festival tents during the reservation changeover, which is why no further visitors were allowed onto the Theresienwiese for safety reasons. This caused some uncertainty, but fortunately no one was injured.
On October 01, the Wiesn was closed again. The reason for this was a bomb threat. The Oktoberfest gates remained closed until 17:30, which could be one of the reasons for the lower number of visitors this year compared to last year. Two days later, on the Day of German Unity, the grounds were closed again due to overcrowding, but this time the closure only lasted an hour.
Despite these incidents, the Wiesn 2025 was once again a complete success! Overall, the hosts and showmen are very happy with their business and the guests had fun. We hope you can reminisce a little with our Oktoberfest review and look forward to next year when it starts again!