Oktoberfest draws record 7.4 million visitors
The Munich Wiesn was busier than ever over sixteen days, according to the festival organisers and the city of Munich.
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Oktoberfest in Munich is estimated to have attracted 7.4 million visitors this year. According to the city of Munich and the Bavarian broadcaster, that makes the 2026 edition the busiest in the history of the folk festival.
The 191st edition ran from 19 September to 4 October at the Theresienwiese. According to the festival organisers, around 7.4 million people visited the site over sixteen days. BR24 describes the figure as an estimate and reports that the edition therefore surpassed previous visitor records.
The city of Munich compares the result with 2025, when around 6.5 million visitors were recorded. The difference amounts to around 900,000 visitors. The figures are not based on individual tickets, because Oktoberfest is freely accessible; they are an estimate by the organisers and the city.
The historic Oide Wiesn section also attracted more visitors. According to the city, around 447,000 people visited, compared with 360,000 in 2025. Alongside the large fairground and beer tents, the Oide Wiesn offers a more traditional programme and is counted separately from the main site.
The high visitor estimate says nothing in itself about the amount of beer sold, the turnover of operators or the profit for the city. The reports consulted contain no complete final economic balance. Nor do they name a cause for the increase compared with last year.
The record does, however, underline the scale of the event for Munich and the region. For more than two weeks, visitors from Germany and abroad gather around hospitality, fairground rides, music and traditions. This makes Oktoberfest important for hotels, restaurants, transport operators and other tourism businesses, but the precise effects on those sectors have not yet been published.
The record should moreover be read as an estimate of visitors, not as an exact number of unique individuals. Someone who visits the site several times may be counted differently in the method used from a visitor who comes once. The safe conclusion is therefore that, according to the official estimate, the edition had the highest number of visitors in history; based on the available figures, little can yet be said with certainty about turnover, consumption and individual visitors.
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The record estimate of 7.4 million visitors, the festival duration and the figures for the Oide Wiesn were confirmed by the city of Munich and BR24. The article makes no unsubstantiated claims about turnover or the causes of the increase.
- confirmed Oktoberfest attracted an estimated 7.4 million visitors in 2026. — BR24 and the city of Munich report the same estimate. source
- confirmed The edition ran from 19 September to 4 October inclusive. — BR24 gives the festival period of the 191st Wiesn. source
- confirmed There were around 6.5 million visitors in 2025. — The city of Munich gives this visitor figure in its year-on-year comparison. source
- confirmed The Oide Wiesn attracted 447,000 visitors, compared with 360,000 in 2025. — This comparison appears in the city of Munich's official figures. source
- confirmed The visitor figure is an estimate, not a ticket-sales figure. — BR24 explicitly describes it as an estimate by the festival organisers; the site is freely accessible. source
Editor's note
The visitor figure is an official estimate by the city and festival organisers and is reported independently by BR24. The available sources provide no complete figures for turnover, beer consumption or visitor-counting methodology; those uncertainties are explicitly included in the article.Sources
- Rekord-Wiesn 2026: 7,4 Millionen Besucher auf dem Oktoberfest — BR24
- Oktoberfest Bilanz 2026 — Stadt München
- Oktoberfest Halbzeitbilanz 2026 — Stadt München
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