Oktoberfest - Munich's Beer Festival

The Oktoberfest is Munich’s world famous beer festival. Approximately 6 million visitors drink 5 millions liters of beer during this fair. You can connect the Oktoberfest to Bavarian beer without any second thought. The history of the fest goes back to the early 19th century when Crown Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese on 12th October 1810. During that time, the people of the town were invited in front of the city gates to celebrate this important event. Horse races culminated the end of the event and it was considered a festival for the whole of Bavaria.

In 1811, another attraction was added to the horse races, and it was the agricultural show. It was meant to give a boost to Bavarian agriculture. In 2007, the 174th fest was held. It is the largest festival in the world. The locals refer to the fest as “Wies’n” which is an abbreviated form of Theresienwiese ("Theresa's fields"). Since the marriage festivities of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese were held on the fields in front of the city gates, thus the name.

This year the fest takes place from September 20 till October 5. One can reserve tables in the beer tents which are opened by largest and most traditional breweries in Munich. Traditional Bavarian food like Pretzels is another attraction at the fair. Visitors can also enjoy traditional Bavarian music played by local bands and mingling with millions of people from all over the world. An important piece of information is that the drinking hours are from 10 in the morning to 10.30 in the night.