About Oktoberfest History, Oktoberfest Party & Octoberfest Celebrations

Started in 1810, Oktoberfest, also spelled Octoberfest, was to celebrate the October 12th marriage of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig to the Saxon Hildburghausen Princess Therese. Munich citizens were invited to join in the five day festivities held in the fields in front of the city gates. Horse races were main events of the original Oktoberfest. Anniversary Oktoberfest celebrations were held thereafter and became larger and more elaborate. An agricultural show was added during the second year.

The 1818 Oktoberfest had a carousel and two swings for the revelers. Although amusements were limited during the first decades of the Oktoberfest festival, party goers were entertained by the wheel barrow, tree climbing competitions, sack races, barrel rolling races, mush eating contests and goose chases. Mechanical rides were an expanding feature of the festival by the 1870s Oktoberfest, and in 1908 the Oktoberfest included Germany's first roller coaster. As the city began allowing beer on the fairgrounds, makeshift beer stands began cropping up, and their number increased steadily until beer halls in the Oktoberfest eventually replaced them 1896. The local breweries today, sponsored the Oktoberfest beer halls, like the beer tents of.

The Octoberfest festival was eventually extended and moved to September to allow for better weather conditions. Although the dates of the modern Oktoberfest varies, some observer it on the first Sunday in October. In 2006, the Oktoberfest extended two additional days because the first Tuesday, October 3rd, was a national holiday. Over the past 200 years, Oktoberfest was canceled 24 times due to cholera epidemics and war.

Oktoberfest bier (beer) was introduced in 1872, through a collaboration with Spaten brewery's Gabriel Sedlmayr and Anton Dreher of Vienna, Austria. Nowadays, imported Oktoberfest biers tend to be lighter in color and body than the traditional Marzen style, while American craft breweries are creating festbiers that are often slightly higher in alcohol, richer in hops, aroma and flavor, and redder in hue than the European festbiers. What goes best with an Oktoberfest? If a stein is in one hand, the other usually holds a wurst or sausage.

At the Munich Oktoberfest, the food is served in gargantuan portions: haunches of oxen and whole chickens are spit-roasted, and myriad sausages are steamed and served with sauerkraut and onions. American sausage-makers, such as Usingers of Milwaukee, Gerhard's of Napa, Bruce Aidells of San Leandro, Bradley Ogden Sausages by Saag's of San Francisco, and Amy's of New York, all make flavorful sausages -- beef, chicken, pork or veal - often flavored with fresh herbs and seasonings -- that complement the bready, malty notes of an Oktoberfest beer.

Oktoberfest had turned into a world famous festival. The first Americans, New Zealanders and Japanese discovered the festival and stumbled alongside Bavarians. They spread the word of Munich worldwide. To make the Oktoberfest more friendlier to older people and families, the concept of the "quiet Oktoberfest" was developed in 2005. Until 6:00 PM, the tents only play quiet music, for example traditional wind music. Only after that will Schlager and pop music be played, which has led to more violence in earlier years. The music played in the afternoon is limited to 85 decibels. With these measures, the organizers of the Oktoberfest hope to curb the over-the-top party mentality and preserve the traditional beer tent atmosphere.