Oktoberfest 2019 – The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

 

Munich’s Oktoberfest 2019 officially wrapped up last week and we’ve got all the good, bad and ugly…

6.3 million Visitors attend Oktoberfest 2019

In spite of sometimes unfavorable weather this year’s attendance remained strong.

Although 2019’s visitor numbers wasn’t record breaking, 6.3 million visitors over 16-days is a lot of celebrants. And according to festival management it did tie with 2018’s attendance…so there’s that.

USA Tops List of International Visitors

Oktoberfest 2019 lived up to its reputation as the largest folk festival in the world and here are this year’s Top 10…

  1. USA
  2. Great Britain
  3. France
  4. Austria
  5. Netherlands
  6. Switzerland
  7. Italy
  8. Australia
  9. Sweden
  10. Denmark

But that was just the beginning…

Visitors from 45 nations made the trek to celebrate at Munich’s Oktoberfest including: 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.

, Oktoberfest 2019 – The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

Oktoberfest Crime Was Down

According to Munich authorities the biggest Oktoberfest challenge in 2019 was the presence of e-scooters and drunk riders. 414 people were caught riding scooters under the influence and 254 of those riders lost their driving licenses on the spot.

And although 96,912 people were caught trying to leave the event with the glass beer mugs (leave it to the Germans to count these things), that number is actually a decrease from 2018, which saw 101,000 attempted mug thefts.

Police spokesman Marcus da Gloria Martins sums up this year’s festival incidents this way…

“We had more controls in place and saw a significant decrease in pickpockets. 133 offences were recorded, compared with 174 in the previous year. Unfortunately, we also had a slight increase in sexual offences, from 42 to 45 offences.”

 

Oktoberfest Beer Consumption Was Also Down

Visitors to Oktoberfest 2019 drank a total of 7.3 million liters of beer this year, according to the balance sheet of the breweries. And although that number was hardly insignificant it was still down from the 7.5 million liters of beer consumed in 2018.

, Oktoberfest 2019 – The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

Things Got Lost At Oktoberfest 2019

Things can get lost at Oktoberfest where both flagrant beer consumption and amusement park rides coexist…And this year was no different.

The Oktoberfest Lost and Found Office reported more than  3,800 items lost at this year’s celebration, including 780 ID cards and passports, 660 purses, 465 bank cards, 420 smartphones (not smart), 300 keys (good luck getting home and/or into your home), 155 glasses, 130 bags, backpacks and bags, 115 umbrellas, 55 pieces of jewelry and amazingly only eight cameras.

Official also reported finding several unclaimed bras and undergarments (!), as well as a flugelhorn and a set of teeth.

About AmericanCraftBeer.com

AmericanCraftBeer.com is the nations' leading source for the Best Craft Beer News, Reviews, Events and Media.
Scroll To Top