Oktoberfest in Munich

Oktoberfest is a festival in Munich, which is celebrated for sixteen days, every year at the ending of September. The Oktoberfest is one of Germany’s major events and the largest fair in the world. The festival is famous for the beer and wine available there.

The Oktoberfest festival was started on October 18, 1810, in honor of the marriage of King Ludwig I and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. From that year on, the festival was conducted every year, pushing the date forward for weather reasons. In the year, 1835 a procession took place, and also became a tradition that has  been repeated every year.

In between the years 1866 and 1879, the Oktoberfest festival was cancelled due to Austro-Prussian War and Franco-Prussian War. The festival was again started in the year 1880 with 400 stalls. In the year 1892, beer was served in a glass mug for the first time.

In the 19th century, entertainment and beer were the major attractions. Oktoberfest celebrated its 100 years in 1910, where 120,000 liters of beer was consumed. In 1913 the Braurosl tent was started with 12,000 guests and is  the biggest tent up today. Since1950, the festival has become a major event and by the year 1960, the festival has turned into a worldwide major event.

Highlights of the festival

The area of the festival is about 103.49 acres, with 100,000 seating capacity even though 6.2 million people visit. About 6,940,600 liters of beer, 79,624 liters of wine, 32,047 liters of Sparkling wine, 222,725 liters of coffee and tea are consumed. In addition, a huge amount of food is also consumed where 521,872 units of chicken, 142,253 pairs of Pork sausages, 38,650 kg of fish, 58,446 units of Pork knuckles 104 units of oxen were eaten at the festival.

There are 14 major tents in the festival which are listed below:

1. Hippodrom with seating capacity of 4,200
2. Armbrustschutzenzelt capacity of 7,439
3. Hofbrau-Festzelt capacity of 10,518
4. Hacker-Festzelt capacity of 9,300
5. Schottenhamel capacity of 10,000
6. Winzerer Fahndl capacity of 10,900
7. Kafers Wiesen Schanke capacity of 2,900
8. Weinzelt capacity of 1,900
9. Lowenbrau-Festhalle capacity of 8,300
10. Braurosl capacity of 8,200
11. Augustiner-Festhalle capacity of 8,500
12. Ochsenbraterei capacity of 7,300
13. Fischer Vroni capacity of 3,395
14. Schutzen-Festhalle capacity of 4,442

Today, the festival has become a major attraction, which attracts people from all over the world including people from the U.S., Japan, Brazil, India and Australia.