Munich Oktoberfest Final with the Cannon Shooters
It's over! And: Goodbye, Wiesn! Until 2026... The tradition of cannon shooting on the steps leading to Bavaria: shots from all the cannons rang out across the Wiesn and symbolically ended the 16-day Munich Oktoberfest today at noon
October 5, 2025 - After 16 days, the world-famous Oktoberfest in Munich ends - celebrations can still be held in the large and small festival tents until shortly before midnight (English, Italiano, Français, Deutsch)
Munich. After the hottest Oktoberfest start ever on September 20th with 30.4 degrees Celsius, visitors flocked to the Theresienwiese today for the grand Wiesn final with umbrellas and traditional costumes. According to old tradition, the 16-day festival ended with the salute of the male and female cannon shooters at the feet of Bavaria at noon. In 12-degree weather, the 60 cannon shooters, dressed in dirndls and lederhosen, gathered at the foot of the Bavaria statue, braving wind and weather. The salute from all the cannons echoed across the Wiesn, symbolically bringing the 16-day Munich Oktoberfest to a close. Brass bands played along the music, and then everyone headed to the festival tents to celebrate. Beer flowed from all the taps until the evening hours, the rides were running, and the delicacies and Wiesnherzen (traditional Oktoberfest sweets) awaited their purchase.
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| The Schützen festival tent at the foot of the Bavaria - Oktoberfest Munich on the Theresienwiese, Photo: Helga Waess (Archiv) |
The Schützenfest tent with the shooting ranges
At the end of the Oktoberfest, the salute is fired by male and female cannon shooters in front of the Schützenfest tent, according to old Bavarian tradition.
The state shooting competition was held during the Oktoberfest at the shooting ranges of the Schützenzelt – just by the way. This is where the shooting ranges are located, where the shooting competitions take place. This is the highlight of the year, the "Oktoberfest State Shooting Competition." It is organized by the "Bavarian Sport Shooting Association."
The cannon shooting competition is the traditional award ceremony... and it has evolved into the annual Oktoberfest closing event.
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| Dusk at the Munich Oktoberfest - Photo: Helga Waess |
You can still party on the Oktoberfest meadow until just before midnight.
So head to Theresienwiese and visit one of the large Oktoberfest tents again:
Armbrustschützenzelt
Augustiner Festzelt
Bräurosl (Pschorr)
Fischer Vroni Festzelt
Hacker Festzelt
Hofbräu Festzelt
Käfers Wiesnschänke
Löwenbräu Festzelt
Marstall Wiesnzelt
Ochsenbraterei (Spaten)
Schottenhamel Tent
Schützen Festzelt
Weinzelt Kuffler
Winzerer Fähndl (Paulaner)
Today's Oktoberfest finale brought packed festival tents and a great atmosphere despite the rainy finale
The winning song of the "A Liad für'd Wiesn" competition, titled "Bierdringa," was performed by the singer FENZL himself on most stages.
Two Oktoberfest hits were particularly popular at the 2025 Oktoberfest: "Wackelkontakt" by Oimara and "Bella Napoli" by Roy Bianco and the Abbrunzati Boys, who were sung along to loudly.
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| Traditional costume at the Oktoberfest - Photo: Helga Waess (Archiv) |
The owners of the small and large rides are satisfied with this year's Oktoberfest
... and the souvenir vendors also brought smaller gifts like pins and refrigerator magnets to the celebrating Oktoberfest crowd – the official Oktoberfest souvenirs and Oktoberfest-Herzl (heart-shaped souvenirs) sold very well.
This year's grand Munich Oktoberfest attracted a total of 6.5 million visitors to the Theresienwiese over 16 days
The Oide Wiesn alone, located south of the Oktoberfest grounds (toward Bavariastrasse), attracted 360,000 visitors. Visitors from all over the world drank 6.5 million liters of beer—6 to 10 percent of which was non-alcoholic beer. And some wanted to take home a stein—the Wiesn guards collected a total of 116,000 steins from staggering guests.
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| Bavaria is the patron saint of Bavaria in the morning - here the Bavaria sculpture in front of the Hall of Fame - seen from the balcony of the Schützenfest tent - Photo: Andreas Waess |
Most of the guests, by the way, came from the state capital itself or from beautiful Bavaria
They celebrated together with guests who mainly came from the USA, Austria, Poland, Italy, Great Britain, Spain, France, India, Australia, and Sweden.
Munich Wiesn director Dr. Christian Scharpf presented the 2025 Oktoberfest results with the following words:
"The sunny holiday was the day with the most visitors – despite the one-hour closure. Even after the events on Wednesday, a total of around 150,000 people still came to the Wiesn to celebrate from 5:30 p.m. On a normal weekday, between 200,000 and 250,000 guests visit the festival grounds. These figures show us that visitors feel safe and are not letting their enjoyment of Oktoberfest be dampened. I would like to thank all guests for their great understanding of the safety measures."
