Largest celebration of beer in the world. Includes a funfair and many beer tents, most renowned of which is Käfers Wiesen Schänke, frequented by celebrities from Munich and around the world and is known for its good food such as Käfer-roasted duck which is a must-try. This Oktoberfest tent closes at 1:30 am, as compared to other tents which closes at 11 pm.
Six million visitors are expected in Munich for this year’s Oktoberfest.
To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Oktoberfest, the fans of the world’s biggest party will have an extra day for enjoying themselves.
The Oktoberfest can offer seating for about 100,000 visitors. To make sure they can all enjoy themselves in true Bavarian fashion and keep warm and dry even when the weather is bad, plenty of very large tents are needed. By the way, the biggest one of all at the Oktoberfest has an area of 7,084 square meters called the Hofbräu-Festhalle, which holds 10,000 people.
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On Saturday, September 18th, the Schottenhamel tent is the place to be, if you want to catch the official opening ceremonies. At noontime, 12pm, the lord mayor of Munich will have the honor of tapping the first keg of Oktoberfest beer. Once the barrel has been tapped, all visitors will then be allowed to quench their thirst. It pays to arrive early in order to experience the festivities up close and personal and it’s quite common for visitors to come around 9am to secure good seats.
In 2009, 6.6 million liter mugs of beer were served during the Oktoberfest. Normally, each brewery brews its own Oktoberfest beer – but for the 200th anniversary all the master brewers from the Munich breweries have grouped together and put all their experience, creativity and know-how into jointly brewing a historical beer for the Wiesn.
The anniversary beer is based on the recipe from the early 19th century. In terms of its color and alcohol content, it is almost identical to what was served 200 years ago on the Wiesn. The master brewers have just adapted the taste to modern times. The amber-colored special beer is full-bodied and has a malty-flowery aroma. Of course, it is still served from the traditional wooden barrels.
The anniversary beer will, in any case, always stay something special, as the master brewers of the participating breweries have solemnly vowed to keep the recipe strictly secret and only to serve it in the historical Oktoberfest tent during the anniversary year.
History of the Oktoberfest:
The folk festival that is today famous all round the world was held for the first time in October 1810 – on the occasion of the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese. On the fields – then still located outside the city walls of Munich – a great horse race was held; a few beer stalls were set up to provide refreshment for the guests.
200 years later, there are huge beer tents instead of the one-time modest stalls. And rather than just a handful of locals watching the horse race, we now have some six million beer lovers from all corners of the globe.
