Oktoberfest 2009
Oktoberfest 2009
This year’s Oktoberfest is Munich’s 176th Oktoberfest! Known as the most famous folk festival – and beer festival – in the world (and the biggest), the Oktoberfest is one of Munich’s major attractions.
It starts third Saturday in September and only after a traditional ceremony: The ‘Wies’n’ publicans, set off at 11am on their colourfully decorated floats pulled by horses, make their way along Schwanthaler Strasse towards the Theresienwiese.
The first barrel of beer is personally tapped by the Lord Mayor at 12 noon and on Sunday, starting at 10am, groups in traditional garb from all over Europe march to the Theresienwiese. The blissful, beer-laden festical lasts for a total of 16 days and six million people attend each year.
The ‘Wies’n’ festival originates from the wedding feast for Crown Prince Ludwig and his bride Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen in 1810.
