Last day of the Wiesn: Munich closes Oktoberfest with gun salutes beneath the Bavaria

Today is the last day of Oktoberfest in Munich. The 191st Oktoberfest began on Saturday 19 September on the Theresienwiese and ends this Sunday, the city of Munich reports on its website muenchen.de. The city calls the festival the largest folk festival in the world.

Gun salutes beneath the Bavaria

The final day has a tradition of its own: the Böllerschießen. According to muenchen.de, around sixty marksmen bid farewell to Oktoberfest on the last day of the Wiesn at the foot of the large Bavaria statue. The shots around midday are loud, but they do not mark the end. The festival continues into the evening, the city writes.

According to the opening hours on muenchen.de, the stalls and rides are open on Sunday from 9.00 to 23.30. Beer is served in the large festival tents until 22.30 and in the small tents until 23.00, and the grounds close at 23.30. There are two exceptions: Käfer Wies'n-Schänke and Kufflers Weinzelt serve until 0.30 and close at 1.00.

Free, except for the Oide Wiesn

The festival grounds and tents are free to enter. According to the city, there are 17 large and 21 small festival tents this year, and more than a hundred rides and stalls. Only the Oide Wiesn, the historic section on the southern part of the Theresienwiese, charges adults 4 euros admission; children up to and including 14 get in free. There, historic carousels turn and folk music and dancing take centre stage.

Why it is already over

Anyone who thinks Oktoberfest lasts the whole of October is mistaken. According to the fixed rule on muenchen.de, the festival starts on the Saturday after 15 September and runs until the first Sunday in October. If 1 or 2 October falls on a Sunday, it runs up to and including 3 October, a public holiday in Germany.

Its origins lie in 1810. Crown Prince Ludwig, later King Ludwig I, married Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen on 12 October of that year. The citizens of Munich were invited to the festivities on the fields in front of the city gates, which closed with horse races, according to the city.