Oktoberfest – Let the Party & Beer Roll!

Oktoberfest is also known as the Largest People's fair in the World. Generally the event is associated with fun & partying with endless flow of beer. It is an event full of entertainment with music, art & crafts, food and drink throughout the entire weekend. Oktoberfest means “Reason to celebrate” & also it’s known as called "Wiesn” meaning "Meadow" by local Bavarians.

Today it’s the most popular German festival which is also celebrated throughout the world. There are many Oktoberfest celebrations held in countries like Japan & America. The inherent reason for this is that large number for people of German origin and culture live in U.S and Canada, and also fact which can’t be denied that as lot of food, drinking, carnival & other fun activities are involved with this festival so people are quite attracted to join the celebrations.

The origin & history of the event goes long back in time as far as the 19th century in the free state of Bavaria in Germany. The first Oktoberfest took place on October 12th 1810 as a wedding celebration for Crown Prince Luitpold I & Princess Theressa of Bavaria. Around 40,000 people of Bavaria were invited on this occasion and the five day long event ended on 17th with a horse race.

The reason for the celebration was two, firstly to thank the Lord for the past year crops & secondly for enjoying the wedding with the people & family of the state. The meadow where the race was held was named as Theresien-Wiese in honor of the princess. So Munich remains the original place where Oktoberfest was traditionally held, but celebration also takes place in other cities and towns. Millions of people visit 64 acre large Theresien-Wiese. Many visitors come from other countries like Italy & from other non-European countries like Japan and Australia. German Oktoberfest has evolved as one of the largest festival arcross the globe as in the world with over six million visitors visiting each year.

Besides the Oktoberfest, there is a second festival which takes place at the same place in April/May called as The Munich Frühlingsfest (Spring Festival), which is also known as "Little Oktoberfest”. In USA also it is held in different cities & places, but the first Oktoberfest in USA was held in La Crosse, Wisconsin on October 13th 1960. In North America, major celebrations take in place in places like Texas, Wisconsin, Helen, Georgia, Newport, Rhode Island, California, New York, North Carolina and Oklahoma. Outside Germany some cities like Ohio & Ontario Canada hosts some of the largest Oktoberfest .The festival starts at noon when the clock of St. Paul's Church in Munich strikes 12 noon. One of the highlights of the festival is the Trachtenfest parade in which thousands of German people participate in their native costumes.

Oktoberfest parties are quite simple & fun to attend. All you need is a stockpile of German beer to go with lip smacking grilled chicken, barbequed fish, and potato salad. Traditional pretzels and mustard are served alongside authentic German grilled sausages. The main German beers served in the festival are Pilsner, Bock, and Weizenbier & Oktoberfest. Pilsner is bitter in taste and also commonly known as “Pils”. Weizenbier is the lightest one among all and Bock is quite strong. Whereas the most popular beer for the festival is Oktoberfest and it is specifically made for the event. Beers are served in mugs known as Oktoberfest beer mugs made from heavy glass and typically have a decorative brewery logo on the side. So this year you should party hard & brew up a whole lotta fun with your friends on this Oktoberfest weekend.

Sean Carter writes on holidays, events and celebrations around the world. He also writes on family, relationships,love and friendship. He is a writer with special interest in online marketing and in the ecard industry. He writes for 123greetings.com

Bayern Munich at Ocktoberfest 2006

Great Video of Munich Footie team hanging out at Ocktoberfest 2006.

Ocktoberfest 2006 Dates

The Munich 2006 Oktoberfest runs from Saturday September 16th until Sunday October 1st.

The Tapping of the Keg is @ 12:00 pm sharp and the close at 10 PM on the Last day. So in between...PROST !!!

Oktoberfest 2006 - A Celebration Of German Culture

Oktoberfest is one of the world's great seasonal festivals. It is held every fall in Munich, Bavaria, and in other locations around the world.

The first Oktoberfest started as a series of horse races in honour of the wedding of the Crown Prince of Bavaria in 1810. The horse races became an annual event and were combined with the state agricultural fair the following year. By 1818 the folks were setting up booths and serving food and drink.

By the late 1800s the booths had become large beer halls or tents. And that is the image of Oktoberfest that persists to this day.

The beer tents are still set up each year at Oktoberfest on the Theresienwiese, named in honor of the Crown Prince's bride. Today the Munich festival also features a large midway and fair, and always lots of eating and beer drinking.

This year's Munich Oktoberfest runs from Sept. 21 through October 6, and it is expected that roughly 6 million foreigners will visit the city. They will be there for the non-stop festivities -- "endless rounds of beer, sausages, toasts, dances, parades and oompah bands."

Bavaria is a distinctively Catholic area and carries on the Catholic tradition of celebrating the abundance of the earth with lots of jovial merrymaking, hearty eating, and unrestrained drinking.

Oktoberfest in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

The world's second largest Bavarian Oktoberfest celebration is held in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The large German community in the Waterloo County area had been accustomed to celebrating Oktoberfest at their local cultural clubs.

In 1969, some enterprising citizens took the festival, then being held annually at the Concordia Club in Kitchener, out into the community. They saw it as an opportunity to turn it into a civic event that the entire community could share in. It became a uniquely local celebration of the deep German traditions of the area.

Since those first years, the Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest has become the largest Bavarian festival in North America, and hosts the grandest Thanksgiving Day Parade in Canada.

Visitors come from all over North America and around the world to share in the spirit of Gemuetlichkeit. As in Munich, numerous Festhallen (large beer tents) are set up around the community, and the trademark eating, drinking, and celebrating takes place day and night for two weeks.

There are also a growing number of family and cultural events including presentations highlighting German traditions, language, clothing, dancing, music, and cuisine.

About the Author

Rick Hendershot publishes Linknet News