Oktoberfest: Wiesn boss moves to the hotel for the Oktoberfest

The new Oktoberfest chief Christian Scharpf wants to move to the hotel during the Oktoberfest. For practical reasons: “I booked a room directly at the Oktoberfest at my own expense so that I can be quickly on site at any time in the high phase of the festival time,” said Scharpf of the German Press Agency.

Early layer with a security situation

The 53-year-old SPD politician, who also took over the office of economic officer in March, lives with his family in the Maxvorstadt district-actually only a few kilometers as the crow flies to the festival area. At the Oktoberfest, however, there are regular crowds in the subway and S-Bahn and at the train stations around the Oktoberfest-and even on foot it is often only stop-and-go towards the direction.

The festival manager is in demand early in the morning – even before opening the site. “The first appointment was the situation consultation with the security authorities early,” said Scharpf. This is followed by a thick schedule, one appointment hunts the next. “It is important to keep an overview, be present and to see that everything is going.”

“Hotel Wiesn” has proven itself

With the hotel booking, Scharpf follows the example of the previous Oktoberfest chief Clemens Baumgärtner (CSU). “My predecessor had already handled it that way and I was guided by that.” Baumgärtner had taken a hotel on the festival site for the first time in 2022 – also to be closer, also for a possible emergency at night. This is short for the head of the world’s largest festival. According to Baumgärtner, his Wiesntag always took 17 or 18 hours.