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General Info
Oktoberfest is a 16-day beer festival held every year in Munich, Germany (see map). It is the world’s largest annual fair with 6 million people from all over the world attending. Although called Oktoberfest, this beer festival begins every year on the 3rd Saturday in September and ends 16 days later. Here are dates for the next 2 Oktoberfests:
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2011: September 17 – October 3
2012: September 22 – October 7
Opening Ceremony
Oktoberfest opens with a 12-gun salute and tapping of the first keg by Munich’s mayor with the words, “O’zapft is!” or “It’s tapped” in the Bavarian dialect. The fair grounds are called the “Theresienwiese” or “d’Wiesn” for short. The grounds are a series of beer hall “Stands” or “tents” belonging to Munich’s big six breweries: Spaten; Lowenbrau; Augustiner; Hofbrau; Paulaner; and Hacker-Pschorr. Many tents can hold up to 5,000 people sitting (or standing) at long tables while listening to traditional Oktoberfest music and drinking beer from “Mass” or heavy glass beer steins. Beer drinking is certainly part of Oktoberfest but there are also parades, processions, restaurants, concerts and a full midway on the fair grounds. Organizers have promoted a family-friendly atmosphere by prohibiting loud music until 6 p.m. but after sundown, the party is in full swing.
History
Oktoberfest was first held on October 12, 1810 to commemorate the wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese Saxe-Hildburghausen. It was an elaborate horse race but horse races have not been a part of the festival since 1960. The modern-day Oktoberfest became an annual event in the mid-1800s and the breweries (and beer tents) started organizing the annual festival in 1887
Dress
Many attending the festival still wear traditional Oktoberfest Lederhosen. Women wear dresses called Dirndl, long dresses with frilly bodices. Oktoberfest’s grounds are called Munich is the capital city of Bavaria Province located in southern Germany (see map). Bavaria is the country’s largest Province and borders both Austrian and Switzerland. |
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Spyns is an active travel company offering small group tours to Munich's Oktoberfest festival. For more information about Oktoberfest and our company, please visit www.oktoberfest-germany.com or contact us info@oktoberfest-germany.com or toll-free at 1.888.825.4720. Copyright Spynstours Ltd. 2008-2012.
