Oktoberfest 2026 preparations: city not seeking new records
Excavators are back on Munich’s Theresienwiese: with under three months to go, work has begun on the world’s biggest folk festival, creating one of Europe’s largest temporary building sites by September’s ceremonial first keg.
By VS
Published on 06/07/2026 - 11:49 GMT+2
For now, the Theresienwiese is still a huge building site, but in just a few months millions of people will once again be celebrating here together. In Munich, work to set up Oktoberfest 2026 officially began on Monday. Between now and the opening on 19 September, beer tents, rides, stalls and beer gardens will be built on the grounds of the world’s largest folk festival.
Erecting the site is a major logistical undertaking every year. Crews work on the Theresienwiese for around three months before the first visitors are allowed onto the festival grounds.
“Thankfully the court issued its ruling in time, we’re allowed to hold the Wiesn in 2026 as we do every year and that’s why we can get going on schedule today. One of the largest temporary construction sites in Europe is now starting up, with 70 to 100 lorry loads per tent lined up,” said Munich’s head of economic affairs, Christian Scharpf, at the launch of the works.
Work could only start after a legal dispute over the allocation of several beer tents. The Wiesn has for years been seen as fiercely contested ground: coveted pitches and lucrative tent concessions repeatedly lead to clashes. Only once a court had rejected an urgent application from an unsuccessful bidder was the city able to begin construction as planned.
Three months of set-up for two weeks of organised chaos
To make sure everything is ready when Oktoberfest opens, thousands of tonnes of material have to be brought to and installed on the Theresienwiese over the coming weeks. Dozens of lorry deliveries are needed for the big beer tents alone. On top of that come the rides, supply lines, kitchens, beer cellars and the entire technical infrastructure.
According to the city, the build now starts earlier than it did a few years ago. This leaves more time to make up for possible weather-related delays.
“The set-up takes a quarter of a year in total. Some time ago we also decided to start earlier because of the weather. This has become more than understandable this summer. It’s good that we began two weeks earlier and not only some time in July,” Scharpf explained.
Around six million visitors expected
When the first keg is tapped on 19 September, the city once again expects several million guests from all over the world. Last year, around 6.7 million visitors came to the Wiesn.
However, breaking new records is not the aim, Scharpf stressed. “We are not chasing records here; we also want the Wiesn to retain its relaxed atmosphere. Last time we had 6.7 million visitors – that’s fine. We can easily live with that figure, and that’s the sort of turnout we’d like to see this year as well,” he said.
Until then, though, there will still be plenty of screwing, hammering and assembling on the Theresienwiese. Where cranes, diggers and lorries dominate the scene today, brass bands, beer steins and fairground rides are set to take over in just under three months. For Munich, the countdown to Oktoberfest has now officially begun.
