Oktoberfest

Festival Munich, Germany

The Oktoberfest (lit. October party, in Bavarian Wiesn) is a popular festival held every year in Munich (München), in the last two weekends of September and the first of October. It is the most famous event hosted in the city, as well as the largest fair in the world, with an average of 6 million visitors each year and which reached almost seven million in 2011 with a consumption of 7.5 million mugs of beer.

Other cities around the world host similar parties also called Oktoberfest. In the Theresienwiese area, with an extension of 42 hectares, a large amusement park is prepared and the stands (Festzelte) are set up where the six historic beer brands of Munich are served (Paulaner, Spaten, Hofbräu, Hacker-Pschorr , Augustiner and Löwenbräu) authorized to produce the drink for the occasion. Each of the 14 largest stands can accommodate 5,000 to 10,000 people; in each stand there is a central stage on which bands perform in the traditional schlager style. The party begins with the uncorking ceremony of the first barrel, broadcast live on Eurovision television and with the traditional procession.