Oktöberfest

The Marienplatz (St. Mary, Our Lady’s Square) is a central square in the city center of Munich, Germany. It has been the city’s main square since 1158. This is a view of the city hall.

View of the Neues Rathaus and Frauenkirche looking west.

View of the Mariensäule, a Marian column located on the Marienplatz in Munich, Germany. Mary is revered here as Patrona Bavariae (Protector of Bavaria). The column is topped by a golden statue of the Virgin Mary standing on a crescent moon as the Queen of Heaven, created in 1590. The Mariensäule in Munich was the first column of this type built north of the Alps and inspired erecting other Marian columns in this part of Europe.

The entrance to Oktoberfest, the world’s largest beer festival, which begins in Munich, Germany, on September 22. A celebration of Bavarian folk traditions, the event is attended yearly by more than 6.2 million tourists from around the world.

There are about 80 rides on the Oktoberfest run by carny families, most of who have been working for the Oktoberfest since the beginning of the 20th century.

Celebrating Oktoberfest with gingerbread hearts. These whimsical hearts are known as “Lebkuchenherz” (German for “gingerbread heart”). A gingerbread heart is a customary accessory for women who wear traditional dirndl dresses to Oktoberfest.

This was our beer tent for Oktoberfest. The Schottenhamel Spatenbrau is one of the most important tents of the Wiesn, as everything starts inside this tent. On the opening day of the Wiesn, at 12 pm on the dot, the mayor of Munich, Dieter Reiter will tap the first keg and call out “O’zapft is!” confirming that the tapping was successful. It is only after this that all other tents may begin to serve beer. The Schottenhamel tent, which in 1867 was just a small beer booth with 50 seats, has become the largest Wiesn tent with 10,000 seats.

Our tickets to enter the tent reservation.

The appetizers at Oktoberfest, every table gets one. We had 2 tables.

Can’t go wrong with a beer and a pretzel. The pretzels are huge.

All beer served at the Oktoberfest tents must be from one of Munich’s six breweries—Paulaner, Spaten, Hacker-Pschorr, Augustiner, Hofbräu, and Löwenbräu. The beer must also follow the Reinheitsgebot. The dinner also comes with roasted chicken and potatoes.