Oktoberfest begins with a giant parade as all the Bavarian breweries bring their tents to the Theresienwiese, which is the name of the meadow where the festivities take place. At exactly 12:00 PM on the first day, the Lord Mayor of Munich taps the first beer, and it is then that Oktoberfest is officially declared open!
There is lots to do at Oktoberfest. You can eat and drink in any of the 34 tents at the Theresienwiese, listen to a traditional brass band play polka music, walk around the fairgrounds, go on carnival rides or even take a look at the famous flea circus. At the end of the day, many people go back to their camping tents in one of the nearby fields, so that they can wake up early and do it all again the next day!
On October 12 in 1810, King Ludwig I married Princess Theresa, and all the citizens of Munich were invited to celebrate their wedding. At the original celebration, a horserace was held to honor the king and princess. The people thought the horserace was so much fun, they wanted to have another one the next year, and the year after that and the year after that! In the following years, people began to add other things to the main horserace. First, there were bowling alleys, then swings, then carnival booths... the celebration kept getting bigger and bigger!
Two hundred and eight years later, Oktoberfest has become very important not only to Bavarian culture, but to Germany as a whole. If you can't make it to Munich during the celebration, you can often find many smaller celebrations across Germany, or even in other countries!
