From September 16 to October 3, 2023, millions of visitors are planning to come to Munich. And why? Because it's the big return of the unmissable Oktoberfest. Once again this year, the world's biggest beer festival returns to the capital of Bavaria! The event is also celebrated in many other cities around the world, including London.
Paris has also welcomed this popular event to its shores, offering 10 days of festivities in 2015, allowing us to immerse ourselves in this great beer festival without leaving France. By the way, do you know howOktoberfest came about? Here's a look at the history and origins of the world's biggest beer festival, famous the world over, but with little-known origins...
Who would have thought thatOktoberfest is actually a wedding anniversary? It was the wedding of the future King Ludwig I of Bavaria and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen in October 1810. To celebrate this happy event, the royal family organized a public celebration in a large meadow outside the city, with 14 giant tents, over 600,000 roast chickens and a horse race.
From 1819 onwards, the traditional horse races were replaced by attractions and refreshment stands. From 1896 onwards, the first large tents were erected on the Wies'n (Theresienwiese), attracting tourists as well as many locals. Today,Oktoberfest remains the world's biggest beer festival!
And despite the passing years,Oktoberfest still follows a few very specific rules. The brewers are the first to arrive. Then comes the procession, led by the brewery families on floats adorned with flowers. Other decorated floats, with waitresses holding up the famous mugs, close the parade. The party can only begin when Munich's mayor opens the first keg of beer, proclaiming"O'zapft is" ("the beer is drawn").
Every year,Oktoberfest is also an opportunity to dress up in traditional costumes: the"Lederhose", the famous skin breeches for men, and the"Dirndl", the puff-sleeved dress for women. Under the tents, beers served in"Masses" and roast pork knuckles take pride of place, while visitors sing and dance to the rhythm of traditional Bavarian music played by various orchestras.
Every year, theOktoberfest attracts 6.5 million visitors under 34 tents. 600 waitresses in the seven largest tents carry a good dozen 1-liter mugs at a time - that's 20 kilos! To continue with the figures, over 5 million mugs of beer and 400,000 pork sausages are consumed every year at theOktoberfest.
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