Oktoberfest Will Be Here Soon
Plan now to visit Munich for the world's most popular festival
Over the years, Oktoberfest has evolved into the biggest festival on earth. Six million people will visit Munich to soak up some culture, atmosphere and the beer.
Although the term “Oktoberfest” has become nearly synonymous with “beer festival,” it didn’t start out that way. Originally, Oktoberfest was a celebration of Crown Prince Ludwig’s marriage to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen in 1810. The locals of Munich, Germany were invited to the festivities, which were held in front of the city gates in fields that had been named Theresienwise, meaning “Theresa’s fields.” Soon, the locals had abbreviated the name to the “Wies’n,” and often greet visitors with “welcome to the Wies’n.”
In addition to the wedding in 1810, horse races were a main event. And when the decision was made to continue the horse races the following year, Oktoberfest was born. The beer would come later. First, in 1811, an Agricultural Show, created to spotlight Bavarian agriculture, was added to the festival. While the horse races are no longer part of the event, the Agricultural Show returns to Oktoberfest once every three years.
Eventually, beer stands were set up to help visitors quench their thirst. They rapidly grew in number until 1896 when beer tents and halls overtook the beer sales.
Today, 6 million visitors hit Munich’s Oktoberfest each year, making it the largest festival in the world. This year, the festival is set for Sept. 22 through Oct. 7 and it is still possible to make reservations for rooms and seats in the beer tents, but they’re both going fast.
According to the tourist office: “Rooms are already scarce, but can still be secured in all categories on an individual basis. Group bookings and reservations for the first Oktoberfest weekend (from Friday to Saturday and Saturday to Sunday) are no longer possible.” For reservations, call the office during business hours at +089-233 96 555 or visit their Web site.
Visitors are also welcome to stay at the Olympic Horse-Riding Stadium in Munich-Riem in what is called “Wiesn Camp.” For more information, visit www.munich-oktoberfest.com.
Beyond the beer, there are a number of parades, activities for kids and an open-air concert. The opening ceremonies, called the Grand entry of the Oktoberfest landlords and breweries, for example, take place Sept. 22 at 10:45 a.m. It is basically a parade including the beer tent bands, horse-drawn drays of the Munich breweries, with their waitresses on floats.
The concert is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 30 at 11 a.m. (Sunday, Oct. 7, if the weather is bad on Sept. 30) on the steps of the Bavaria statue. Some 400 musicians take part in the Open-Air Oktoberfest Music concert.
For more information about Oktoberfest in Munich, visit the tourist office’s Web site: http://www.muenchen.de and you could be hearing the words “Welcome to the Weis’n” in just a few short months.
