Oktoberfest is the worlds largest folk festival held yearly in Munich, Germany. It began in 1810 when Bavaria's Crown Prince Ludwig married Theresa of Saxony (Sachsen-Hildburghausen). The townsfolk held a party in a large field outside the city to celebrate and it was so popular, they held it again a year later. The same field has hosted the festival ever since and came to be named 'Theresienwiese' or 'Theresa's meadow' in English. The rest as they say, is history! It is, without a doubt, the largest festival in the world. Much bigger and bolder than anything you have ever seen, it regularly draws over 6 million people through it's 16 day run.
Although called Oktoberfest and originally beginning on Oct 12th, the Wiesn began to start in September in 1872 to take advantage of better weather. To find out when any years festival starts, just find the first Sunday in October and count back 15 days to the starting Saturday. The year 2007 will be the 174th festival and starts on the 22nd of September and runs through October 7th.
The simple answer to many people would be, "It's about the Bier!" While that may be true for a lot of folks, drinking isn't the only thing to do there. The Oktoberfest grounds are over 100 acres large and host a dazzling array of bier tents, food stands, carnival rides, games and more. Many families enjoy taking the children to Oktoberfest and in fact, Tuesdays at the Fest are family days with reduced food, bier and ride prices.
