You can invite your friends as soon as you start planning, but try to get the word out at least a week or two in advance. Ask them to RSVP so you know how much food and drink to provide. Specify the date and time, and whether guests should bring dishes or beer to share, like a potluck. If you send out paper invitations, decorate them with Bavarian flags, beer mugs, and Gothic-style fonts to fit your theme.
Fill clean, empty beer bottles with flowers or wheat straws to add a unique autumn flair to your table decorations.
You can also make your own pretzel garland to hang and nibble from. Make or buy soft pretzels and thread them together with twine. Hang them from a fence or gazebo and tell your guests to tear them off when they get hungry!
Lebkuchen hearts are traditionally decorated with love notes for a sweetheart. You can get your guests involved by making the gingerbread cookies beforehand, then setting up a cookie-decorating station to let everyone write their own messages.
Book flights and accommodations as early as you can. Munich fills up fast in the days before the festival, especially near the start and end. Look for deals and packages online, and consider staying in hostels or Airbnbs instead of hotels.
The Costume and Riflemen’s Procession takes place on the first Sunday of the festival. Ceremonial “troops” march down the streets in historical uniforms, accompanied by marching bands, animals like horses, cows, and goats, and floats displaying local traditions. Another main event, the open-air Oktoberfest music concert, takes place a week later, on the second Sunday of Oktoberfest.
To reserve seats, go to https://www. muenchen. de/int/en/events/oktoberfest/beertents/advice-for-reservations. html. The most crowded tents are typically the Hofbräu tent, which is popular with foreigners, and the Schottenhamel tent, which is the largest, seating 10,000 people.
The Winzerer Fähndl tent, for example, has a beer garden, while the Hackerbräu tent is completely decorated in the Bavarian colors of blue and white. The smallest tent is the Glöckle Wirt tent, which seats just 98 people and lines its walls with traditional cooking utensils, musical instruments, and paintings.
If you don’t like beers as much, you can also check out the Weinzelt, or wine tent, or snack on sweet treats and pastries from different tents.
