Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest is Bavaria’s largest cultural celebration.
But it didn’t actually start as a beer festival — it started as a wedding party in 1810.

Why is it in September?
Better weather, more daylight, and it worked so well the city kept the schedule.

Why is it called Oktoberfest?
The original final festivities started in October — and the name stuck.

Oktoberfest is part celebration, part tradition, and part Bavarian identity. 

• Musical Tradition - Fest Bands

• Long shared beer tables

• Traditional clothing or Tracht (Lederhosen & Dirndl)

• Classic Bavarian food

• Official Oktoberfest beers

And always, it is about Gemütlichkeit — a uniquely Bavarian feeling of warmth, welcome, and belonging. 

Note:  We are not seeking to be an Oktoberfest travel blog, but to give some basic insights into the unique role of the Oktoberfest and it's place in Bavarian culture and tradition.

This page is continually updating as we discover more.

Oktoberfest started Oct 17, 1810, as a wedding party. But it existed long before...

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Oktoberfest is the most recognized of Germany's festivals and lauded as the World's Largest Folk Fest...6.8M+ attendees in 2019.   

Originally, it was the "city fair" for Munich, the capital of the Kingdom of Bavaria, which then was not part of Germany, nor did it even consider itself Germanic...it was Bavaria...Land der Bayern.

This sense of "unique" culture continues even today.  

Bavaria is Germany's largest state by land mass, and is second largest by population - much like Texas or California is in the United States.  Other Germans and Bavarians disagree on many things, but they all agree on this—Bavarians are Bavarians.   Sort of like Texans are Texans and Californians are Californians.

​On October 12, 1810, Prince Ludwig I of Bavaria (grandfather of the castle-building Ludwig II) married Princess Theresa in their own version of a "Charles and Diana" Wedding. "Everyone" was invited and the then-local Munich "city fair" was taken over for the Royal Event.   To commemorate this, every 4 years, a section of the Oktoberfest is set aside for the Bavarian State Agriculture Expo, harkening back to its roots.

Maximillian I, then the King of Bavaria, and father to Ludwig I, issued royal charters to 6 local Munich breweries to produce beer for the wedding party.  Augustiner, Hacker-Pschorr, Löwenbräu, Paulaner, Spaten, and Hofbräu-München remain today the only breweries sanctioned to produce the official beer for the Oktoberfest and to market it as Oktoberfestbier.   With time and merchandising, other breweries have now their own Oktoberfestbier, but they are not the original.   

But, if the Oktoberfest is the Oktoberfest, why do some people call it the Wies'n?  

It's a little confusing.  The festival area, which was originally outside the city gates, was renamed the Theresienwiese in honor of Princess Theresa, and that name has stuck, so locals just call it "d 'Wies'n."

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In 2019, 6M+ people attended the Oktoberfest in München.

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Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the official Oktoberfest was canceled in 2020 and 2021.  

However, in 2021, many local groups banded together, held smaller fests, and appended the name -Wies'n to these (for example: Wirtswies'n).   This tradition seems to have caught on so you will see many events called -Wies'n.   While not the official Oktoberfest, they are filled with just as much Gemütlichkeit.

Bavarian Fests are neither random nor just an event with beer. 

They're an orchestration of different elements and the better these elements work, the better the Fest. 

Band/Music

This can make or break any Fest since their job is to give the Fest its spirit and tempo. 

They are literally the "beating heart" of the Fest.  A lackluster Band makes for a lackluster Fest. 

Just to let you know, here is our NorCal Fest Band page. 

Food and Beer

Much more than than just brats and bubbles.  There is an entire Fest Cuisine.  Food needs to pair well together with the beer, match the venue and theme, and hopefully, are at least "Bavarian-inspired." Running out of beer and food at a Fest is not just a "party foul" or bad idea; it's sacrilege and could forever ruin the Fest's reputation.

Tradition(s) abound at any Fest

The beer & food, the bands & music, the venue, people sharing tables, wearing Tracht (Lederhosen, Dirndl, and other historical clothing), and everyone showing a sense of Gemütlichkeit.  In Bavaria, Fest is a noun, a verb, an adjective, and an advert.  They take on a life of their own.  They're are almost an Olympic sport.  

Gemütlichkeit 

This is a uniquely Bavarian sense of welcomeness, coziness, community, and being together. 

Not just a bunch of people in the same space, but people in purposeful community with each other. It's on par with Tradition in making a Fest a real Fest.

Beer

Only 6 breweries have held the Royal Charter as Beer Maker for the Oktoberfest:

• Augustinerbräu - Munich's oldest brewery

• Hofbräu Munich - the famous Hofbräuhaus

• Löwenbräu

• Paulaner

• Spaten

• Hacker-Pschorr

Technically, they are the only breweries allowed to make and market Oktoberfest beer.   All others are "imitations" and in the case of some other breweries, results have been known to vary.  

Tents

​Each brewery has at least one official "big tent" at the Oktoberfest, but some have more and all tents are sponsored by only one of these breweries, totaling 16 "big tents" in all.  The logo of the sponsoring brewery is clearly placed on the front of the tent and all over the inside...hard to miss.

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Beer Styles over 300+ years

From its start in 1810 until 1871, Munich Dunkel was the beer style of the Oktoberfest.  In 1872, it was changed to the lighter Märzenbier.  Then in the 1970s, Paulaner introduced the glass Mass (aka Maß - liter) and with it the lighter-colored Festbier, which by the 1990s had become the official beer of the Oktoberfest.  Now, all beer at the Oktoberfest is Festbier, except at the Hacker-Pschorr tent in the Oide Wies'n (Traditional Oktoberfest), which offers both their Festbier and their traditional Märzenbier.

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So what's the difference?

Munich Dunkels are just that dark brown, more malty, heavier with a higher ABV. 

Märzenbier is closer to a "brown" or amber and less heavy.  At some Fests throughout Bavaria, you can still find the original Märzen-style beer, which, as the name implies, is brewed in March (März), and lagered until it is poured in late summer or early fall.

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Festbiers, based on the lighter Munich Helles, is yellow in color, light, and with a mid-range ABV.   They are the product of modern brewing technologies, whereas the other two heavier beers could hold up better in wooden barrels and lagered through the warm summer months.

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Note:  If you are interested in learning about traditional Bavarian Märzenbier, look for Dahoam1516's Märzenbier classes in March....check the calendar.