If you drink beer with any zeal and enjoy real-ale festivals in the UK, there’s a good chance that you’ll love the Oktoberfest. It’s an event you should attend at least once. Set amid a fairground, the buzzing atmosphere of the “Munich Beer Festival” is one you’ll never forget.
History
In its earliest years, the Oktoberfest wasn’t very beery at all. The first event was held in 1810 to mark a royal wedding. There was horse racing staged by the National Guard, bowling, and a few fairground attractions.
Several decades later, with the Oktoberfest firmly established, local breweries started parading their beautiful horses at the festival. Then, in 1892, Munich beer was sold in glasses for the first time and flowed smoothly after that.
To see the Oktoberfest is to experience a piece of German tradition and history. Over 200 years of entertainment has gone before.
Family Friendly
If you’d like to go to the Oktoberfest, but assume it’s not family friendly, rest assured that’s not the case. Before 6 pm, the beer tents play softer orchestral music, and retain their traditional mood, without the adults’ knees-up that prevails later into the night.
Also, special days are set aside for families (“family Tuesdays”), with reduced prices on fairground rides and game booths.
Attractions
Although beer is the main theme of the Oktoberfest, there are other things to see when you go. Three of them are listed below.
Tapping Ceremony:
The festival opens each year with a ceremonial opening of the first barrel by the local mayor
Costume and Riflemen’s Parade:
A procession of costumed groups from Bavaria and beyond, plus floats, farm animals and thoroughbred horses. In keeping with a century-old tradition, local Munich breweries parade at the festival with their decorated drays.
This happens on the first Sunday of Oktoberfest.
Open-air Music:
On the second Sunday of the festival, all Oktoberfest brass bands give a performance at the steps of the Bavaria statue in Munich. Hundreds of balloons are released into the air to round off the free concert
