The world’s most famous beer festival will be opening its doors for the 189th time at 9 am on 21 September 2024. Where? In Munich, of course! However, as tradition has it, only soft drinks will be served until the official opening ceremony at 12 noon. The highly anticipated tapping of the first barrel marks the beginning of the festivities when the Mayor of Munich proclaims “O’zapft is!” (Bavarian for “It is tapped!”). The exclamation is followed by twelve gunshots to signal that beer may now be sold in all the festival tents.
Oktoberfest or Wiesn?
Although it’s called ‘Oktoberfest’ over time it has slipped towards the end of September and finishes on the first weekend of October. The festival has been celebrated for over 200 years!
It all began in 1810 in celebration of the wedding of Prince Regent Ludwig of Bavaria, later King Ludwig I, and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. The festivities lasted 5 days and all the locals were invited. The celebrations ended with a horse race on the festival meadow, named ‘Theresiens-Wiese’ in honour of the bride. The event was so popular with the people that it soon became an annual tradition.
Locals refer to the festival as ‘Wiesn’ (the Bavarian word for Wiese, meadow in English), so if you hear this being said instead of Oktoberfest, don’t worry, you are talking about the same thing!
The whole city is in party mode and the locals feel such a deep connection with the festivities that even before you get to the entrance of the Wiesn, you’ll be immersed in the real essence and atmosphere of Bavaria of bygone times, surrounded by people young and old dressed in traditional attire: Dirndl for women, Lederhosen for men.
Is Oktoberfest suitable for everyone?
Yes! Oktoberfest is not just about beer tents and food, and it’s not just an event for young people. You can easily find yourself seated at a table with 80-year-olds and whole families.
Everyone is welcome at the Wiesn and Tuesdays are dedicated to families, making it particularly enjoyable and easy for families to attend. The Family Day is from 12 to 6 pm and as an added bonus, the rides and many attractions are cheaper!
Not only beer… Welcome to amusements galore!
As you may have gathered by now, Oktoberfest is not only about drinking beer!
Covering 46 hectares of grounds, the Wiesn is filled with stalls selling food and souvenirs, an amusement park, musical bands and showmen, with crowds of visitors in traditional costumes creating an incredible festival atmosphere.
The amusement park alone is such a beautiful sight that it attracts thousands of visitors, including those less interested in beer.
Don’t miss out on the parade of the Oktoberfest landlords and breweries in their festively decorated wagons and brewery carriages (21 September at 10.45 am) and the traditional costume and hunters’ parade through the centre of Munich (22 September at 10 am).
Destinations
Is this your first time? Here’s what you need to know!
The only way to get the full Oktoberfest experience is to completely immerse yourself and join in with the fun. If you are thinking of going and it’s your first time, here are some useful tips:
- Admission is free.
Contrary to what you might expect, admission to Theresienwiese is completely free and you only pay for what you consume. There is only one area that you have to pay 4 Euros to enter and that’s the Oide Wiesn, a historical area established in 2010 to commemorate the bicentenary of the festival.
The Oide Wiesn recreates all the nostalgia of the past, with old-fashioned stalls, carousels and historical rides, and the beer is served in ceramic mugs. Admission is free here after 9 pm. - Please don’t bring backpacks. If you absolutely must, backpacks are limited to a capacity of three litres and must be no bigger than 20 x 15 x 10 cm. The long waits in the queues are often not due to the crowds of people, but to the bag checks.
On weekdays the opening hours are from 10 am to 11.30 pm and on weekends from 9 am to 11.30 pm, except for the wine tent (open until 1 am). - You can book a table in advance. How? On the official site of the festival tent that interests you, although places run out quickly. Which festival tent to choose? Every festival tent is different and serves their own beer. Exploring the 16 festival tents is a fun thing to do because they all choose their own colours, themes and decorations, so they are all very different to each other.
- The weekend is the most popular time to go and is naturally more crowded. However, there is no best day to visit the festival and there is no best time either – it’s a case of first come, first served. From 9 am to 5 pm you are more likely to find quieter periods, nevertheless bear in mind that the festival attracts over six million people every year. If you are travelling with a family in tow, we recommend Tuesdays.
- One of the most emblematic and most frequented events is the opening day (Anstich), with the opening ceremony by the mayor and the parade of the six historic breweries of Munich in horse-drawn carriages.
When the mayor cracks open the first barrel at the Schottenhamel tent and drinks the first litre of beer, the Oktoberfest is officially open, as signalled by twelve gunshots in the field. - We suggest you avoid going by car. You will find convenient trains, buses and underground lines that run every 10 minutes until 2 am on weekends and until 1 am on weekdays while the event is running.
When using the U-Bahn (underground), take the U4 & U5 lines to the Theresienwiese station or U3 & U6 to the Goetheplatz and Poccistraße stations.
By bus, you can take buses number 53, 58, 131, 132 and 134.
By suburban train: S1-S8 destination Hackerbrücke.
And to wrap up…
Oktoberfest finishes on 6 October 2024, but don’t forget the impressive farewell ceremony on the final day. According to an old custom, traditional riflemen again shoot gunshots from the foot of the statue of Bavaria with the promise to meet the following year.
By In viaggio con Clere
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