U.S. Oktoberfests Coincide With Munich Celebration: 5 Things To Know

Celebrations of German culture will start soon around the country, to coincide with folk festivals in Germany that start Saturday and run through Sunday, Oct. 5.

If you think Oktoberfest is just an excuse to drink beer, you couldn’t be more wrong. There is beer at most Oktoberfest celebrations, of course. But authentic celebrations include traditional Bavarian music, people wandering around in dirndls and lederhosen, and traditional eats.

The traditional German folk festival in Munich draws about 6 million visitors who drink about 2 million gallons of beer during its 16 to 18-day run over three weekends.

Oktoberfest is a relatively new tradition in North America. It is popular, especially with the approximately 16 percent of U.S. citizens whose ancestors were German immigrants, but the appeal is universal.

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Below are five things to know about Oktoberfest:

How Did Oktoberfest Start?

The first Oktoberfest in 1810 wasn’t a beer festival at all, but rather a celebration of the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildurghausen.

The citizens of Munich were invited to join the five-day party held on the fields in front of the city gates, now known as Theresienwiese (Therese’s meadow). It lasted for five days, from Oct. 12-17, with each day featuring the food, beer, parades and music that have endured for more than two centuries. The celebration ended with a horse race around the edge of Munich.

Why Isn’t Oktoberfest Just In October?

“Oktoberfest” is somewhat of a misnomer — although the first celebration of German beer and culture in 1810 was held entirely during October.

As the festival grew in popularity, more days were added. The start of Oktoberfest was moved to September because days are longer and warmer. It meant celebrants could stay out later without getting chilly.

In Some Places, It’s ‘Octoberfest’

To be true to tradition, Oktoberfest is spelled with a “k” because the 10th month of the year is written as Oktober in German.

Some U.S. celebrations use the English spelling of October, thus calling it Octoberfest. More stick to the traditional spelling in deference to the German culture.

When Did Oktoberfest Start In The U.S.?

The first U.S. Oktoberfest was held in La Crosse, Wisconsin, in 1961. Civic leaders there had agreed La Crosse needed a communitywide celebration and had talked about an annual winter carnival, but shelved the idea, primarily due to the unpredictability of the weather, but also because such events weren’t unique in cold northern states.

At the same time, officials at the La Crosse-based G. Heileman Brewing Co. were discussing an annual promotion, according to the history of the event on the Oktoberfest USA website. When a couple of employees of German origin who worked in the malt house got wind of it, they suggested an autumn festival similar to the one in Munich.

An ambitious plan emerged, and it became apparent to Heileman officials that they’d need help pulling it off alone. In early 1961, the La Crosse Chamber of Commerce agreed to sponsor the Oktoberfest celebration, which has become an annual tradition.

La Crosse’s 2025 Oktoberfest USA celebration runs Sept. 25-28.

First, But Not The Largest

Although La Crosse was the first to hold a U.S. version of the Munich festival, honors for the largest such festival in this country goes to Oktoberfest Zinzinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio. It runs Sept.18-21.

Showcasing the rich German heritage of southwest Ohio, Oktoberfest Zinzinnati was first held in 1976. The festival typically draws more than 800,000 visitors to downtown Cincinnati, where sections of two streets were transformed into a Bavarian village offering German-style food, beer and entertainment. In a typical year, visitors eat:

• 87,542 mettwursts
• 64,000 sauerkraut balls
• 24,640 potato pancakes
• 20,000 cream puffs
• 6,000 jumbo pickles
• 1,875 pounds German potato salad
• 700 pigtails
• 80,500 bratwurst
• 56,250 sausages
• 23,004 soft pretzels
• 16,002 strudel
• 3,600 pounds sauerkraut
• 702 pounds Limburger cheese
• 400 pickled pigs feet