Oktoberfest and its history
The history of the world's most famous folk festival dates back to the early 19th century. The first Oktoberfest was held on October 17, 1810. A horse race was held on the “Theresens-Wiese” (or as we would say today, the Theresienwiese) to celebrate the wedding of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen.
The horse race proved to be a great success, and it was repeated year after year. In 1818, fairground rides were added to the event – at first rather modest with a carousel and two swings, but still! Fun rides, shooting galleries and, of course, the famous beer tents followed. Over the years, the simple wooden structures developed into impressive tents with space for thousands of guests. Horse racing, on the other hand, is now history.
Why is it called Oktoberfest? Isn’t it mainly held in September?
This is one of the questions we get asked most by our guests! We sure understand it is quite confusing. In fact, in the early days, the festival took place in October. But as you might have experienced, Munich's October weather can get cold and wet, sometimes bringing the first snowflakes of the year. September weather, on the other hand, is often nicer, which is why the Oktoberfest was moved to the earlier month in 1872. As a rule of thumb, Oktoberfest begins on the Saturday after September 15 and ends on the first Sunday in October.
O'zapft is! Here's to a peaceful Wiesn!
Please allow us to clarify: When Munich people visit the Oktoberfest, they will affectionately refer to it as the “Wiesn”, the meadows – a short form of Theresienwiese. But in any case, you should never call it Wiesen, and certainly not to the Wies'n. “Wiesn” has been in the Duden dictionary since 2017.
Will 2024 be a new record year?
Halfway through Oktoberfest 2024 on September 29, 3.6 million guests had already visited the Wiesn which is more than last year at this point.
So far, 2023 has seen the most guests of all time at Oktoberfest, with a total of around 7.2 million people visiting the festival. However, last year also provided us with an 18-day XXL Wiesn due to the public holiday on a Tuesday, and fine late summer weather.
Let's see what happens between now and October 6th when Oktoberfest officially ends!