Oktoberfest History
Oktoberfest began on October 12, 1810. Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese from Saxony-Hildburghausen. All the locals attended the celebrations in a local field, which is the same field used today for Oktoberfest, known as Theresienwiese (Therese's Field). Locals refer to Oktoberfest as Die Wiesn (The Field).
During that first festival the main attractions were large public horse races. The massive spectacle you see today was not always the case in the early years. Beer wasn't even sold at Oktoberfest until 1818. The first proper beer tent didn't appear until 1896. Today you see a full scale fairground, small beer and food stands.......and 14 of the largest beer tents/halls you'll ever see in your life! Horse racing is no longer permitted at Oktoberfest for health and safety reasons. It's far, far safer to spend your day guzzling litres of beer!
To cut a long story short, everyone had such a great time in 1810 that they decided to celebrate the event every year - 200 years later it's still going strong!
Go to the Schottenhammel tent on the first Saturday each year at exactly 12:00pm where the Mayor taps the first keg and cries, "O'zapft is!" (it's tapped). It's a must-see with gun shots fired etc.
Oktoberfest hasn't always been full of joy and happiness. 13 people were killed in a bomb explosion in 1980 with more than 200 seriously injured. Since 1810. Oktoberfest has been cancelled 24 times - mainly due to war, economic problems and disease! Don't let that put you off though, it's the happiest place on earth to be.
To find out when the festival starts in any given year, take the first Sunday in October and count back 15 days to the starting Saturday, which is always in September.