Munich bans backpacks from this year’s Oktoberfest

BERLIN — Backpacks and other large bags will be banned from this year’s Oktoberfest and a fence will be erected in an effort to increase security after recent attacks rattled Germany, Munich city officials said Wednesday.

Bags of more than 3 litres (0.8 gallons) in capacity won’t be allowed into the annual beer celebration, which runs Sept. 17-Oct. 3, deputy mayor Josef Schmid said.

The Oktoberfest “won’t become a high-security zone, but there will be important changes that affect all guests,” Schmid told reporters.

Security staff also will be strengthened. Schmid said that officials had already planned to raise the number of security guards from last year’s 250 to 350. That number will now be upped to as many as 450 at peak times.

A 350-meter (380-yard) fence will be put up to secure a previously open entrance to the festival grounds, Schmid said.

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Bavaria was shaken last month by three attacks in a week. Two were carried out by asylum-seekers and claimed by the Islamic State group. Only the attackers were killed.

Unrelatedly, a teenager killed nine people and then himself in a shooting rampage in Munich.

The new security measures followed a review over recent weeks. Schmid stressed that there is “no concrete danger” to the Oktoberfest — “there are no threatening videos or anything like that.”

The Associated Press