Munich's Biggest Party of the Year Got Watched by AI Cameras for the First Time

Keypoints:

• The 191st Oktoberfest opened in Munich on September 19, running through October 4
• Mayor Dominik Krause tapped the first keg in two strikes, matching the traditional record
• About six million visitors are expected over the 16-day festival
• Organisers deployed 26 AI-assisted cameras to detect dangerous crowd density in real time
• The security upgrade follows temporary closures during the 2025 festival due to overcrowding

Munich's Oktoberfest opened its 191st edition on September 19, with newly elected Mayor Dominik Krause tapping the ceremonial first keg in just two strikes, matching the fastest recorded pace for the ritual. He delivered the traditional cry, "O'zapft is," "It's been tapped," to a crowd already filling the beer tents across the Theresienwiese fairground in dirndls and lederhosen.

Roughly six million visitors are expected across the festival's 16-day run this year, most arriving from Munich and southern Germany, though millions more travel in from across Germany and around the world. 

Alongside the beer, pretzels, pork roast, and sausages remain the festival's staple food draws, with brass bands keeping the tents singing and swaying through each session.

This year's edition arrives with a real change behind the scenes. After parts of the grounds became dangerously overcrowded during the 2025 festival, forcing temporary closures, Munich authorities built a new security operations centre and deployed 26 AI-assisted cameras across the fairground. 

The system doesn't identify individual people. It's built to spot dangerous crowd density patterns in real time, letting officials intervene before congestion turns into an actual safety incident, a quiet technological shift inside one of the world's oldest and most traditional festivals.