Munich Oktoberfest

Fun fair ride at the
Oktoberfest

Part of the ceremonial
procession.

This year's Oktoberfest is Munich's 175th Oktoberfest!
Known as the most famous folk festival - and beer festival - in the world (and the biggest), the Oktoberfest is one of Munich's major attractions.

It starts third Saturday in September and only after a tradional ceremony: The ‘Wies’n’ publicans, set off at 11am on their colourfully decorated floats pulled by horses, make their way along Schwanthaler Strasse towards the Theresienwiese.

The first barrel of beer is personally tapped by the Lord Mayor at 12 noon and on Sunday, starting at 10am, groups in traditional garb from all over Europe march to the Theresienwiese. The blissful, beer-laden festical lasts for a total of 16 days and six million people attend each year.

The ‘Wies’n’ festival originates from the wedding feast for Crown Prince Ludwig and his bride Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen in 1810.

The big Oktoberfest tents are called:

• Hippodrom
• Armbrustschützenzelt
• Hofbräu Festzelt
• Hacker-Festzelt
• Schottenhamel
• Winzerer Fähndl
• Schützen-Festzelt
• Käfers Wiesn Schänke
• Weinzelt
• Löwenbräu-Festhalle
• Bräurosl
• Augustiner-Festhalle
• Ochsenbraterei
• Fischer Vroni

Statistics show the impressive dimensions of the event: 14 giant tents with a total seating capacity of 100,000 serve 5.5 million litres of potent ‘March beer’, more than 600,000 fried chickens and 84 heads of cattle. The annual commercial value of the whole thing is estimated at a minimum of 0.7 billion Euro.

Tuesdays from noon till 6pm are ‘Family Days’. We advise getting there early (like 11.00) and finding a good spot. Be warned though, Oktoberfest beer at around 8% is strong stuff and you might be advised to drink some with Radlers (shandy) too. If you're in Munich at this time it's a must visit.

Opening Times

Oktoberfest 2008: 20.09. - 05.10.2008

Most of the tents on the Wiesn open at 10.30 in the morning and shut at 23.00 and some like Käfer, Weinzelt at 01:00. However even there they won't let more people in after 22.30. Beer Serving Hours are from 10am to 10.30pm during the week and from 9am to 10.30pm on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. The fairground rides are open from 10am to 11.30pm (Mondays to Thursdays and Sundays) and from 10am to 12am on Friday and Saturday.

Public Transport

Public Transport:

S-Bahn: S1 - S8 to Hackerbruecke
S7 and S27 to Heimeranplatz,Further with the U4 or
U5

U-Bahn: U3 or U6 to Goetheplatz and Poccistraße
U4 or U5 to Theresienwiese or Schwanthaler Höhe

Bus: 31(to Hans-Fischer-Straße or Poccistraße),
58 (to Goetheplatz),
62 (to Alter Messeplatz or Theresienhöhe) or
66 (to Alter Messeplatz, Theresienhöhe or Hans-
Fischer-Straße)

Tram: 18 (to Hermann-Lingg-Straße) or
19 (to Hermann- Lingg-Straße)

Download a Map of the underground system here!

-> For more information on public transport in Munich, please go to the Official Munich Transport Website.

Entry Fees

There is no entry fee as such, you just pay for whatever is there, i.e. beer, food, fairground rides and so forth. A litre jug of beer is expensive at around 7-8 Euro, but you won't be able to cope with many in any case.