Oktoberfest celebrations

Oktoberfest Celebrations

Oktoberfest is the world's largest Volksfest (beer festival and travelling funfair). Held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, it is a 16- to 18-day folk festival running from mid or late September to the first Sunday in October, with more than six million people from around the world attending the event every year.

History

The first Oktoberfest was held in the year 1810 in honor of the Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig's marriage to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. The festivities began on October 12, 1810 and ended on October 17th with a horse race. In the following years, the celebrations were repeated and, later, the festival was prolonged and moved forward into September.

Traditional Events

The Oktoberfest tradition started in 1810 to celebrate the October 12th marriage of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig to the Saxon-Hildburghausen Princess Therese. The citizens of Munich were invited to join in the festivities which were held over five days on the fields in front of the city gates.

Oktoberfest Today

Today, the Oktoberfest in Munich is the largest festival in the world, with an international flavor characteristic of the 21th century: some 6 million visitors from all around the world converge on the Oktoberfest each year. And since the Oktoberfest is still held on the Theresienwiese, the locals still refer to the event simply as the "Wies'n". So "welcome to the Wies'n" means nothing other than "welcome to the Oktoberfest"!

Beer Tents

There are fourteen large and twenty smaller beer tents at the Oktoberfest, which can accommodate some 100,000 people. The tents are wooden non-permanent structures which are constructed for and only used during the festival. The beer served in the tents is exclusively brewed by the six Munich breweries known as the Big Six: Spaten, Augustiner, Paulaner, Hacker-Pschorr, Hofbräu, and Löwenbräu.

Traditional Bavarian Music

Every beer tent at the Oktoberfest offers traditional Bavarian music, playing traditional folk tunes, popular German songs, and of course, the classic hits that every German knows and can sing along to. The typical Oktoberfest band consists of a brass band and traditional Bavarian instruments, such as the accordion, the tuba, and the traditional Bavarian Alpine instrument, the Alphorn.

Traditional Bavarian Clothing

Visitors to the Oktoberfest are expected to dress in traditional Bavarian clothing. For men, this means lederhosen, and for women, it's the dirndl. The traditional Bavarian clothing is not a mandatory dress code, but it is a part of the Oktoberfest experience.

Oktoberfest Food

The Oktoberfest is not only a beer festival, but also a culinary delight. Traditional Bavarian food is served, including pretzels, various types of sausages, sauerkraut, and regional specialties such as Obatzda (a spiced cheese-butter spread) and Weisswurst (a traditional Bavarian sausage).

See Also

• Beer festival
• Volksfest
• Bavaria
• Germany

External Links

• Official Oktoberfest Website