The sharp increase in security is due in part to the terrorist threat, as well as sexual assaults that took place in Cologne on New Year’s Eve.
“No-one should be afraid to go to the Wiesn [Theresienwiese],” deputy Munich mayor Josef Schmid told Süddeutsche Zeitung.
"There is no concrete danger. But of course we're adjusting ourselves to the changed global context."
The event will begin an hour later than previous years at 10 AM. Additionally, city managers have asserted that they will fence off the entire festival area if it gets too crowded.
The event has taken place since 1810, and was the target of a bombing in 1980, which killed 13 people, including the bomber.
