When thinking about beer, almost every mind immediately travels to the beguiling image of sultry blonde maidens carrying overflowing steins.
What you are thinking about is far from being a product of your vivid imagination, or worse, some kind of vision coming directly from the Valhalla of Beers. It is, in fact, a centuries-old festival held in Germany almost every year -they had to skip it over the pandemic- and you probably know it by the name of Oktoberfest.
But what is it? Who invented it? And how can you celebrate it properly without having to travel all the way to Germany?
Let’s find out everything you need to know about Oktoberfest!
What is Oktoberfest? And Why Do You Drink Beer?
Let’s begin our journey by saying that the term “Oktoberfest” roughly translates from German to “October festival”. Oddly enough, it’s not exclusively celebrated in October. As a matter of fact, it only ends during the first weekend of said month.
But what is it? And why is it celebrated?
Well, we like to think that every beer story is, in fact, a love story and in this case might be truer than ever: although its origins are controversial, people like to think that Oktoberfest was first held to celebrate the wedding between King Ludwig I and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen in 1810 Munich. Yet historians tend to think that what truly happened at the time was that the happy couple was greeted by a delegation of local farmers and citizens of Munich, and later celebrated with a horse riding competition.
Whatever the origin, it seems pretty obvious that the citizens enjoyed this get together so much that it developed into an extremely popular festival which continued to be held every year for two centuries.
Starting in 1811, it started growing with the addition of food and carousels. At the moment it is considered to be the largest festival in the whole world. In 1811 the organisation decided to promote Bavarian agriculture by setting up a show. And after a small break taken in 1813 due to the involvement of Bavaria in the Napoleonic Wars, the Oktoberfest started growing from year to year. From the beginning, this festival included a wide variety of attractions such as horse races, accompanied by tree climbing, bowling alleys, and swings and other niceties.
In 1818, carnival booths made their entrance with the possibility of winning prizes made of silver, porcelain, and jewellery. In 1819, the city fathers assumed responsibility for festival management and Oktoberfest officially became an annual event. After the first half of the 1830ies, the Oktoberfest was lengthened and the date was pushed forward because days are longer and warmer at the end of September. The horse race continued until 1960, and the agricultural show still exists today and is held every four years in the southern part of the festival grounds.
Aren’t we forgetting someone? Well, the organisation decided to commemorate the union between Prince Ludwig and Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen by holding a parade which, since 1850, became an annual event and an important component of the Oktoberfest.
So much for a happy ending!
Eight thousand people—mostly from Bavaria—usually dressed in traditional costumes walk from Maximilian Street through the centre of Munich to the Oktoberfest grounds. The march is led by the Münchner Kindl. And who’s this? Simply put, it’s the symbol of Munich’s coat of arms. It translates from Bavarian dialect as “Munich Child” and, since 1850, has been carefully watching over the Oktoberfest.
By the end of the 20th century, the booths were nothing more than a memory: they had, in fact, developed into large beer halls made of plywood, with interior balconies and bandstands.
Since the very beginning, the Oktoberfest has always been all about the city of Munich. More than a celebration of beer per se, it’s a way of honouring the hard work of local artisans and the fruits of the land. That’s why food and breweries have always represented a crucial role in the festival!
To further promote local enterprises, each one of the Munich brewers gets to erect a temporary structure with seating capacities of some 6,000, resulting in 14 large tents and 22 smaller ones. The breweries are also represented in parades that feature beer wagons and floats along with people in folk costumes. Not bad for a rural festival, right?
Since 1960 the festival has been opened by the mayor of Munich, who has the honour of tapping the first keg. Total beer consumption during Oktoberfest is upwards of 75,800 hectolitres (about 2 million gallons). Other entertainment includes games, amusement rides, music, and dancing. Oktoberfest draws more than six million people each year, many of which are tourists.
This year’s festival should have begun on Saturday, September