Oktoberfest Wraps Up Sunday with Traditional Bavarian Farewell

MUNICH – The 190th Oktoberfest came to a close Sunday, wrapping up the world’s largest folk festival with the traditional Bavarian marksmen’s gun salute in Munich.

Roughly 6.5 million visitors attended between Sept. 20 and Sunday, German news agency dpa reported, including Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Austrian-born former governor of California spontaneously conducted a live music band and the singing crowd in a beer tent on Sept. 26.

Schwarzenegger, dressed in a traditional Bavarian-style leather jacket, a buttoned-down shirt and jeans, was accompanied by his partner, Heather Milligan, and his son, Christopher.

The fairgrounds were closed for hours Wednesday as police searched the area due to a bomb threat linked to an explosion across town.

During the initial investigation, a letter written by the suspect and found near the crime scene contained a “non-specific” threat of explosives related to Oktoberfest, Bavaria police previously said.

Wednesday’s images showed police in fluorescent vests patrolling nearly barren pavements near roller coasters and other rides and attractions. Revelers returned to the fairgrounds Wednesday evening after it was deemed safe.

Decades ago, Oktoberfest was the target of a deadly neo-Nazi attack. A bombing on Sept. 26, 1980, claimed 12 lives, including three children, plus the attacker, student Gundolf Koehler, a supporter of a banned far-right group. More than 200 people were wounded.