The City of Munich, as the organizer of the Oktoberfest, is very concerned that everyone, young and old, with and without a handicap, feels welcome at the Wiesn and that visitors with wheelchairs (or health restrictions) also have a blast at the Munich Oktoberfest. The responsible event managers want to make the famous Folkfest accessible and safe – especially for people with disabilities or mobility difficulties. In cooperation with the Advisory Council for the Disabled of the City of Munich, a number of actions have been taken to ensure that these measures are up to date and put through. Learn more about this topic in the text below.
Barrier-free journey to the Oktoberfest
Barrier-free festival tent fun
Barrier-free fun on the Oktoberfest site
Barrier-free takeaway enjoyment
For blind or visually handicapped Wiesn guests
Public toilets for people with disabilities in the festival area
Barrier-free journey to the Oktoberfest
With public transport to the Wiesn
As a person with limited mobility, it is not always easy to use public transport without problems. Fortunately, however, most of the subway stations around the Oktoberfest area are equipped with elevators. On MVG Zoom you can see in real time whether escalators and elevators are working.
Parking slots for disabled persons at the Festwiese
Those arriving by car are on the safe side. Because: on the southern part of the Theresienwiese (entrance via Hans-Fischer-Straße or Poccistraße) there are a number of disabled parking spaces available for people that own a blue parking permit. Here, people with authorization cards for severely disabled persons can park free of charge.
Barrier-free festival tent fun
To ensure that people with limited mobility can also enjoy the Oktoberfest in the tents, all festival halls and catering establishments are built at ground level or equipped with ramps.
In addition, at least 20 disabled-friendly indoor seats must be provided in large tents and 20 in the beer garden. These spots are kept free for wheelchair users and their assistants until 5 p.m. on weekdays and until 2 p.m. on Sundays and public holidays. Outside of these times, reservations should be made for wheelchair users. Furthermore, if the tents are closed due to overcrowding, wheelchair users can only be admitted with a reservation.
Barrier-free fun on the Oktoberfest site
Barrier-free ride fun, Ferris wheel and more
One of the most popular attractions and landmarks of the Wiesn is the big Ferris wheel. It has a wheelchair-accessible ramp which can be used to get into the gondolas. Even bumper cars can be ridden without any problems. The bumper car companies “Distel” (Schaustellerstraße 17), “Geier” (“Bayern-Crash”, Wirtsbudenstraße 100) and “Steinhart” (Schaustellerstraße 1) invite you to ride with a ramp and hand-operated accelerators.
For those looking for a thrill, “the Tower” invites with a ramp and a lift up to the 7th floor. The chain flyer “Jules Verne Tower” and the chain carousel “Wellenflug” are also accessible via an elevator and a ramp.
Barrier-free fun at the shooting-, games- and throwing galleries
For wheelchair users, booths with low counters are particularly suitable, such as the “Eichel” shooting gallery (Street C, No. 2), the “Kraus” shooting gallery (Street 3, No. 1) or the “Globus” shooting gallery (Schaustellerstraße 10).
Barrier-free takeaway enjoyment
The lowered counters of some stalls make it possible for wheelchair users to access a tasty feast without a struggle. These include, for example, the sausage roastery “Zum Gaumenschmaus” (Wirtsbudenstraße 2), the “Schlemmerhaus” (Matthias-Pschorr-Straße 16) or the “Suppenküche” (Straße 1, Nr.5). Folding tables in practical height can be found in the following Bars: Schaustellerstraße 507 and 520 and in the “Fischbraterei Berger” (Wirtsbudenstraße 59).
If you are looking for stalls with low counters offering gingerbread hearts, you can buy them at the “Herzlmalerei” in Schaustellerstraße 50.
Special: If you are looking for a very special gingerbread heart, you will find it at “Georg Rieger jun.” (Street 2, No. 14). The inscriptions are in Braille!
For blind or visually handicapped guests at the Wiesn
The following provide food & beverage menus in Braille:
– Golden Rooster Chicken and Duck Roastery
– Ammer chicken and duck fryer
– Beer garden of the Familienplatzl
– Poschner’s chicken and duck fryer
– Heinz sausage and chicken fryer
– Fischer Vroni
– Fish bäda
– Glöckle Innkeeper
– Café Schiebl
Snack stalls such as “die Brotzeitalm”, the sausage roastery “Zum Gaumenschmaus” or the 1/2-meter bratwurst stall at Matthias-Pschorr-Strasse 38, also offer cards in Braille. In addition, some candy shops such as “Angies Herzlhüttn” and the “Zimmermann-Weber” offer assortment lists in Braille.
Wheelchair-accessible toilets on the festival grounds
In addition to toilets for the disabled in the tents, on rides or in beer bars, there are also six others on the festival grounds:
– at the Theresienwiese Service Center (SZT), entrance to the festival grounds
– on the grounds of the “Oidn Wiesn” (engl. “Old Wiesn”), behind the Marionette Theater
– at the main entrance (P2), access from the Bavariaring sidewalk
– in street C, opposite exit OW 2 of the Oidn Wiesn (engl. “Old Wiesn”)
– and a “toilet for all” at the intersection of street D/street 6, near the parking lot for the disabled (These toilets can be used with the EURO key.)
– at the entrance Esperantoplatz
Wiesn guided tours
For all those who want to immerse themselves in the history of the Wiesn: Wiesn tours are also offered for people with disabilities. Barrier-free routes are specifically chosen there. Bookings can be made with “Universum Oktoberfest” (Georg P. Huber Veranstaltungsagentur GmbH).
The Wiesn app helps
The official Oktoberfest app offers the function to filter the festival grounds according to different accessibility requirements via the search function with the tag “Barrier-free: …”.
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These were just a few examples, of course, the range of barrier-free businesses is growing, so asking or filtering for barrier-free businesses in the Wiesn app is worthwhile. The employees of the Wiesn are happy to provide assistance within the scope of their possibilities and respond to the wishes of people with disabilities.