Oktoberfest is open. The world’s largest folk festival begins after ceremonial keg-tapping

MUNICH (AP) — Oktoberfest is open.

Mayor Dieter Reiter officially started Oktoberfest at noon Saturday when he inserted the tap into the first beer keg, signaling the 189th start of the festival. Thousands of beer lovers celebrated in the Munich fairground as the first to clink their mugs during the world’s largest folk festival.

Servers immediately began ferrying trays — each carrying up to 8 glass mugs — to tables. Revelers started clinking their mugs and taking deep gulps of beer in the stuffy heat of the tent.

The celebration runs through Oct. 6 in 18 large tents covering the Theresienwiese fairground.

This year’s festival includes stepped-up security in the wake of a deadly knife attack in Solingen, a city roughly 470 kilometers (292 miles) northwest of Munich. The violence on Aug. 23 left three people dead and eight more wounded, and the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, without citing evidence. As a result, organizers added metal detectors to the security lineup for the first time in Oktoberfest’s history, but said there were no concrete threats.

Tens of thousands of people lined the streets early Saturday to watch the opening parade as others raced to claim tables inside the tents. They gossiped, played cards and walked around the fairgrounds to check out the food options and amusement park rides to kill time before they could start drinking.

Revelers sprinted through the fairgrounds at 9 a.m. as soon as the entrances opened, despite security officers’ attempts to keep the procession orderly. They laughed despite the morning chill — someone could be heard shrieking “why are we running!” — and raced to get in line again, but this time to be first inside the tents.

Some 6 million visitors are expected over the festival's 16 days — up to 600,000 each day — and can expect to shell out between 13.60 and 15.30 euros ($15.12 to $17.01) for a 1-liter mug of beer (33 fl oz). This year's prices are roughly 3.87% more than in 2023.

Mikael Caselitz, 24, was born and raised in Munich and has attended Oktoberfest for years. He said everyone should travel to Munich for the festival at least once in their lives.

“It can get really crowded and disgusting when people puke on the side of the road,” he joked, “but overall it’s a really fun experience.”

Ollie Standen woke up at 6 a.m. to get in line early for Oktoberfest, where the beer starts flowing at noon. The 21-year-old from England is in Munich this year for a university exchange program and a local friend told him he had to join the festivities. He said he’s looking forward to trying different German beers that aren’t usually found in the United Kingdom.

“It’s a great German tradition and I’m excited to be here,” he said.

The event was skipped in 2020 and 2021 as authorities grappled with COVID-19, but returned in 2022.

The first Oktoberfest was held Oct. 17, 1810 to celebrate the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria to Theresa of Saxony. The venue, a meadow on the edge of Munich at the time, was called “Theresienwiese” to honor the bride. While that name remains, the start date has moved up to September, when the temperatures in Bavaria are usually warmer.

Waitresses film the opening start of the 189th 'Oktoberfest' beer festival in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

A man with a traditional Bavarian hat is pictured in the sun at start of the 189th 'Oktoberfest' beer festival in front of paintings showing Munich landmarks in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Festival enjoy the first glasses of beer on day one of the 189th 'Oktoberfest' beer festival in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

A waitress carrying beer mugs in the Hofbraeuhaus beer tent on day one of the 189th 'Oktoberfest' beer festival in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Festival goer reach out for the first glasses of beer on day one of the 189th 'Oktoberfest' beer festival in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

The Oktoberfest hosts arrive for the start of the 189th 'Oktoberfest' beer festival in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

The traditional Oktoberfest music bands parade at the start of the 189th 'Oktoberfest' beer festival in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

A visitor in traditional Bavarian clothes and a moustache is seen at the start of the 189th 'Oktoberfest' beer festival in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

A man with a traditional Bavarian hat is pictured in the sun at start of the 189th 'Oktoberfest' beer festival in front of paintings showing Munich landmarks in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

A Bavarian musician mirror in a tuba at the start of the 189th 'Oktoberfest' beer festival in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Visitors await the start of the 189th 'Oktoberfest' beer festival in front of paintings showing Munich landmarks in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

The Oktoberfest hosts arrive for the start of the 189th 'Oktoberfest' beer festival in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Visitors secured their place in a beer tent, awaiting the start of the 189th 'Oktoberfest' beer festival in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Beer mugs are prepared in a marquee for the start of the 189th 'Oktoberfest' beer festival in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Young visitors await the start of the 189th 'Oktoberfest' beer festival in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Police patrols before the start of the 189th 'Oktoberfest' beer festival in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Waitresses wait for the gate opening before the start of the 189th 'Oktoberfest' beer festival in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

A waitress prepares beer mugs in the Augustiner marquee for the start of the 189th 'Oktoberfest' beer festival in Munich, Germany, Saturday morning, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Visitors wait in the tent of the Hacker-Pschorr brewery the start of the 189th 'Oktoberfest' beer festival in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

People run to enter the 189th 'Oktoberfest' beer festival in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

A waitress prepares tables in a marquee for the start of the 189th 'Oktoberfest' beer festival in Munich, Germany, early Saturday morning, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Bavarian musicians prepare in the Augustiner marquee for the start of the 189th 'Oktoberfest' beer festival in Munich, Germany, Saturday morning, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

A traditional Ferris wheel waits in front of the moon for the start of the 189th 'Oktoberfest' beer festival in Munich, Germany, Saturday morning, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Workers stand on a lifting platform during construction work on the Oktoberfest grounds at the main entrance, in Munich, Germany, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (Peter Kneffel/dpa via AP)

Police officer patrol, during a press tour at the Oktoberfest, in Munich, Germany, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (Lennart Preiss/dpa via AP)

A view of the new ride "Laser Pix", during a press tour at the Oktoberfest, in Munich, Germany, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (Lennart Preiss/dpa via AP)

A brass band plays during a press tour at the Oktoberfest, in Munich, Germany, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (Lennart Preiss/dpa via AP)

Protesters confronted federal officers in Minneapolis on Thursday, a day after a woman was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.

The demonstrations came amid heightened tensions after President Donald Trump's administration dispatched 2,000 officers and agents to Minnesota for its latest immigration crackdown.

Across the country, another city was reeling after federal immigration officers shot and wounded two people in a vehicle outside a hospital in Portland, Oregon.

The killing of 37-year-old Renee Good in Minneapolis on Wednesday set off a clash between federal and state officials over whether the shooting appeared justified and whether a Minnesota law enforcement agency had jurisdiction to investigate.

Here's what is known about the shooting:

The woman was shot in her SUV in a residential neighborhood south of downtown Minneapolis, about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from where police killed George Floyd in 2020. Videos taken by bystanders and posted online show an officer approaching a vehicle stopped in the middle of the road, demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle.

The Honda Pilot begins to pull forward and a different ICE officer standing in front of the vehicle draws his gun and immediately fires at least two shots at close range, jumping back as the vehicle moves toward him.

It is not clear from the videos if the officer gets struck by the SUV, which speeds into two cars parked on a curb before stopping.

It’s also not clear what happened in the lead-up to the shooting.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the SUV was part of a group of protesters that had been harassing agents and “impeding operations” that morning. She said agents had freed one of their vehicles that was stuck in snow and were leaving the area when the confrontation and shooting occurred.

No video has emerged to corroborate Noem’s account. Bystander video from the shooting scene shows a sobbing woman who says the person shot was her wife. That woman hasn’t spoken publicly to give her version of events.

Good died of gunshot wounds to the head.

A U.S. citizen born in Colorado, Good described herself on social media as a “poet and writer and wife and mom." Her ex-husband said Good had just dropped off her 6-year-old son at school Wednesday and was driving home when she encountered ICE agents on a residential street.

He said Good and her current partner moved to Minneapolis last year from Kansas City, Missouri.

Good's killing is at least the fifth death to result from the aggressive U.S. immigration crackdown the Trump administration launched last year.

Noem said Thursday that there would be a federal investigation into the shooting, though she again called the woman’s actions “domestic terrorism.”

“This vehicle was used to hit this officer,” Noem said. “It was used as a weapon, and the officer feels as though his life was in jeopardy.”

Vice President JD Vance said the shooting was justified and referred to Good's death as “a tragedy of her own making.”

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara gave no indication that the driver was trying to harm anyone when he described the shooting to reporters Wednesday. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he had watched videos of the shooting that show it was avoidable.

The agent who shot Good is an Iraq War veteran who has served for nearly two decades in the Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to records obtained by The Associated Press.

Jonathan Ross has been a deportation officer with ICE since 2015, records show. He was seriously injured this summer when he was dragged by the vehicle of a fleeing suspect whom he shot with a stun gun.

Federal officials have not named the officer. But Noem said he was dragged by a vehicle in June, and a department spokesperson confirmed Noem was referring to the Bloomington, Minnesota, case in which documents identified the injured officer as Ross.

Court documents say Ross got his arm stuck in the window as a driver fled arrest in that incident. Ross was dragged 100 yards (91 meters), and cuts to his arm required 50 stitches.

According to police, officers initially responded to a report of a shooting outside a hospital Thursday afternoon.

Minutes later police heard that a man who had been shot was asking for help in a residential area a couple of miles away. Officers went there and found a man and a woman with gunshot wounds. Officers determined they were wounded in a shooting with federal agents.

Police Chief Bob Day said the FBI was leading the investigation and he had no details about events that led to the shooting.

The Department of Homeland Security said the vehicle’s passenger was “a Venezuelan illegal alien affiliated with the transnational Tren de Aragua prostitution ring” who was involved in a recent shooting. When agents identified themselves to the occupants during a “targeted vehicle stop,” the driver tried to run them over, the department said. An agent fired in self-defense, it said.

There was no immediate independent corroboration of that account or of any gang affiliation of the vehicle’s occupants.

Trump and his allies have consistently blamed Tren de Aragua for being at the root of violence and illicit drug dealing in some U.S. cities.

Drew Evans, head of Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said Thursday that federal authorities have denied the state agency access to evidence in the Good case, barring the state from investigating the shooting alongside the FBI.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz demanded that state investigators be given a role, telling reporters that residents would otherwise have a difficulty accepting the findings of federal law enforcement.

“And I say that only because people in positions of power have already passed judgment from the president to the vice president to Kristi Noem,” Walz said.

Noem denied that Minnesota authorities were being shut out, saying: “They don’t have any jurisdiction in this investigation.”

Dozens of protesters gathered Thursday morning outside a Minneapolis federal building being used as a base for the immigration crackdown. Border Patrol officers fired tear gas and doused demonstrators with pepper spray to push them back from the gate.

Area schools were closed as a safety precaution.

Protests were also planned across the U.S. in cities including New York, New Orleans and Seattle.

Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy contributed.

Protesters confront federal agents outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)

People gather for a vigil after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a motorist earlier in the day, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)

People participate in a protest and vigil after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis, on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)