Oktoberfest Dates: Think Germany and most people think of Oktoberfest - huge steins of beer, singing, platters of sausages, men dressed in Lederhosen and ladies dressed in Dirndls. Oh, and 100,000 or so other people to party with! Held the last two weeks of September into the first week of October because of Munich's great fall weather, Oktoberfest has been a tradition for almost 200 years.
Dates :
- 2007 Sep. 22nd-Oct. 7th
- 2008 Sep. 20th-Oct. 5th
- 2009 Sep. 18th-Oct. 3rd
Planning for Oktoberfest in Munich: With 6 million visitors every year it is a good idea to plan well in advance for Oktoberfest if you want to get the hotel of your choice or make reservations in the beer tents.
Learn what you need to know about Oktoberfest and having a good experience at Oktoberfest.
Check out our top tips on hours, making reservations, buying vouchers and events.
Plan what to do at Oktoberfest.
The Oktoberfest Tents : There are roughly 28-30 tents at Oktoberfest all offering a wide variety of foods, entertainment and beer. Each tent has a speciality and serves up their own special foods or brand of entertainment. Many of them take reservations in advance via phone, fax, mail or Internet.
Oktoberfest Beers: Six Munich breweries, Löwenbräu, Spaten, Augustiner, Hofbräu, Paulaner and Hacker-Pschorr, brew a special beer just for the Oktoberfest. The beer, Wiesnbier is slightly darker and stronger than a normal Pils. It is served in a one-liter-tankard, ein Mass. This year the cost for ein Mass is 7.50 euros.
The Oktoberfest Atmosphere : The atmosphere at Oktoberfest is friendly and very lively. Whether you are at the small stands, at the fair or in one of the tents, you are sure to be caught up in the fun of it all regardless of age or gender.
To make the Oktoberfest more family and senior friendly, the tents only play quiet music until 6 pm. At 6 pm, Schlager and pop music goes into full swing.
Check out the Oktoberfest Crowds Predictor to see what times are the best for you to attend Oktoberfest.
The Oktoberfest Foods: Foods at Oktoberfest are as much a part of the tradition as beer, sausages, oxen, pigs knuckles, roasted chicken, duck, fish, and traditional pastries, noodles, dumplings, plenty of potato salad and sauerkraut, giant pretzels and cheeses are all on offer. It makes my mouth water just to think about it.
Fun Oktoberfest Facts:
- 30% of the year's production of beer by Munich breweries will be consumed in the two weeks of Oktoberfest.
- 12,000 People are employed at the Oktoberfest. Of these, 1600 are waitresses.
- There is available seating for 100,000 people.
- The six Oktoberfest breweries, (Spaten, Augustiner, Paulaner, Hacker-Pschorr, Hofbräuhaus, Löwenbräu) sold 6 million mugs of beer in 2005 (5.5 million in 2004).
- Roasted oxen: 88
- Sausages: 220,000 pairs
- Roast chickens: 460,000
The Munich Oktoberfest - "die Weisn": While we all know it as Oktoberfest, the actual German term for Oktoberfest is die Wiesn - a contraction of the word "Wiesen" which literally translated means meadow or field. The original Oktoberfest was held on the fields in front of the city gates which were later renamed "Theresienwiese" (Theresa's fields). Today, you may be confused if you go to Germany and don't know the term die Wiesn - put it in your vocabulary.
The History of The Munich Oktoberfest: Oktoberfest is one great big international celebration. People have been coming to Munich for almost 200 years for the celebration and now come from all over the world to participate in this 16 day party.
Oktoberfest started as a wedding celebration party. Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, who was later crowned King Ludwig I, wanted the people of Munich to share in the celebration of his marriage to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen on October 12, 1810. He organized a horserace, offered copious amounts of beer and food, invited all the people of Munich and voila! Oktoberfest was born.
The festival was such a success that Ludwig decided to hold it again the following year in conjunction with the state agricultural festival. In 1816 carnival booths were added and in 1819 the town fathers of Munich decided that the festival should be celebrated every year. Over time, the length of the festival was increased and the date moved backward because of the great weather at the end of September in Bavaria.
Since its beginnings the Oktoberfest has thus been canceled 24 times due to war, disease and other emergencies. By 1960, the last year that horse races were held, Oktoberfest was already a world-famous festival. People from all over the world started attending Oktoberfest in droves.
Oktoberfest is now celebrated all over the world at different venues and in varying measures but definitely, Oktoberfest Munich is the king of festivals and we have King Ludwig to thank for it. A toast to King Ludwig and Therese!
Sixteen days, six million people, and some great big tents
The modern celebration has replaced the small tents with giant brewery-sponsored beer halls that can hold up to 5,000 people apiece. The party has also grown in length, to become a 16-day extravaganza ending the first Sunday in October.
