A Bavarian celebration that became a German tradition is giving amusement parks and major cities a reason to celebrate in October.

By Christine Pruitt-Jennings

With the leaves on the trees slowly turning from vibrant green to warm glowing yellow, oranges and reds, the skyline provides the perfect canvas for a celebration of this magnitude.

Whether it be a gray-haired man with a robust waistline circled by brightly colored suspenders with a huge tuba strapped to his back or a young girl performing a traditional Bavarian dance—the images of Oktoberfest are as warming as the sun peaking through those brilliantly tinted trees.

Inspiring visions of sausages and beer, Lederhosen-clad dancers, and polka bands, Oktoberfest has become a reason for people around the world to party in the early fall months.

World’s Biggest Keg Party

Steeped in rich history and traditions, Oktoberfest has long been an important part of German, and more directly, Bavarian culture. Each autumn nearly 6 million people make a pilgrimage to Munich and celebrate the end of the summer to the beginning of the fall season. Although Germany often gets the credit for the festival, the autumn gala has unique Bavarian roots and influences.

What began as a wedding celebration for a Bavarian crown prince in 1810 has become the world’s largest public festival. The festivals, long hailed as a time to consume large amounts of beer, salty pretzels, bratwurst, and roasted meat, mark the end of summer.

The Bavarian crown prince Ludwig, who would later become King Ludwig II, married princess Therese from Saxony-Hildburghausen on October 12, 1810.

Not only was it a time to celebrate the impending marriage, but the Bavarian king, Max Joseph, did something uncharacteristic of royalty at the time. He decided to invite the subjects, who would had never before been able to attend a royal celebration.

Five days after the nuptials, the Bavarian National Guard organized a horse race for the public to attend and continue in the rejoicing. The races were repeated year after year and became known as the October festivals. Various merchants set up carts and stands in hopes of selling their wares to the fair-goers.

Each year, the festival is held on the Theresienwiese (Therese’s meadow)—the site of the wedding.

In its infancy, Oktoberfest was not the extravaganza it has become today. It was not until 1896 that the beer stands made way for beer tents and halls, sponsored by the landlords, who had financial support from the owners of the local breweries. As the fairground trade began to grow and develop in Germany, so did the level of grandiosity surrounding the Oktoberfest celebrations. Although the horse races were abandoned in 1938, the rest of the original fest has continued to flourish.

Only wars and cholera epidemics have briefly interrupted the annual celebration throughout the last 193 years.

Evolving from a carousel and a couple of beer stands, today’s 16-day event in Munich boasts 14 tents, rides, and countless musicians, dancers and performances. In 2002, the 5.9 million people who streamed through the gates and onto the Theresienwiese consumed more than 5.7 million liters of beer.

The first day of the celebration begins at 11 a.m. on Saturday with a loud, joyful, four-mile parade leading into the oldest private tent on the grounds. Promptly at noon, the mayor of Munich taps the keg and shouts, “o’zapft is!”—“the keg is tapped.”

This, like most traditions, has remained untouched despite some changes to the venue, like the addition of a roller coaster and new-fangled adventure rides. Guests still enjoy Bavarian delicacies like wheat beer, “white beer,” and the complimentary “white sausage,” which is a blend of pork, bacon, and veal. Big salty pretzels, served with a mild mustard and roasted organic duck, goose, and chicken are also top sellers at the tents.

Although children are generally welcome to roam the grounds, listen to the music, ride the rides and watch the performances, organizers discourage their presence inside the beer tents because it is a more adult atmosphere.

To this day, the Bavarian countryside is still considered by many to be the cultural Mecca for German folk songs, folk dances, and folk music.

From Florida to Zinzinnati

Outside of Munich, Oktoberfest celebrations have been popping up worldwide. Most major cities in the continental United States, especially those with large German-American populations in the surrounding areas, have some kind of Oktoberfest celebration.

The city of La Crosse, Wisc., claims to have one of the most authentic Oktoberfests in the United States and has even trademarked the moniker Oktoberfest USA since 1961.

With backing from the G. Heileman Brewing Co., civic leaders in La Crosse created an annual event geared toward promoting local pride, as well as

promoting national publicity and tourism for the city. It is an event for the community, and it thrives on the support of the local government as well as the efforts of many volunteers.

And it has blossomed throughout the past 42 years. For La Crosse, the combination of the German Oktoberfest with a dash of American influence has made for a successful event.

Cincinnati, Ohio, also celebrates its surrounding German heritage each autumn, and since 1976, it has transformed five of its city blocks into Oktoberfest Zinzinnati for three days in September.

City officials started the festival as a way to draw people into the downtown area. For the past 27 years, some 500,000 German-Americans and partygoers have been flocking to the downtown streets to celebrate.

And the event has drawn some big names, from musical parodist Weird Al Yankovic to Bavarian royalty.

In 1994, the Crown Prince of Bavaria attended Oktoberfest-Zinzinnati and helped 48,000 people set a world record for simultaneously doing the World’s Largest Chicken Dance. The group performance ensured that Oktoberfest-Zinzinnati held the world record in the Guinness Book of Records (in the 1995-1997 editions).

Amusement Parks Cash In

Amusement parks are not missing out on the marketing success of Oktoberfest. Although parks in some areas battle colder weather in the fall, many are able to schedule an Oktoberfest celebration of some kind in September or even into early October.

Munich’s Oktoberfest runs from the third week of September to the first week of October every year. Amusement parks around the world do their best to recreate some of the atmosphere, but the dates in the United States and Canada vary.

Other parks have made the annual party an everyday occasion.

Both Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Disney’s Epcot Center have made the Bavarian party a permanent part of their parks’ attractions.

Busch Gardens, a European-themed amusement park in Williamsburg, Va., has recreated two German hamlets in the park: Rhineland and Oktoberfest. The latter hosts a Bavarian-flavored fete every day in the 2,000-seat Das Festhaus, an indoor beer/dining hall. With typical German fare of bratwurst and beer being served by costumed waiters and waitresses and a nightly oompah musical called “This is Oktoberfest,” Busch Gardens attempts to bring the lively excitement of the Bavarian culture to an American audience.

Within the hamlet there are also a handful of German-themed shops, including one in which patrons can select an authentic German beer stein as a souvenir.

At Disney’s Epcot Center in Orlando, Fla., the World Showcase recreates the landmarks and traditions of 10 foreign countries in hopes of bringing cultural diversity to the masses. Epcot itself may appeal more to the adult crowd, but its sites and shows are designed to entertain all ages.

In Epcot’s version of Germany, Oktoberfest is celebrated every day in the Biergarten. With a buffet-style restaurant serving German foods and beer, yodelers and dancers performing in tune with Bavarian music, and an indoor German courtyard, visitors get a taste of the festive flavor of Oktoberfest—and the Bavarian countryside.

And for those who cannot make a trip to Munich in early fall, Epcot offers a later, closer-to-home option. The park hosts a special Oktoberfest celebration in the fall as part of the International Food and Wine Festival (October 18 through November 16). A traditional, authentic keg-tapping ceremony kicks off the event, which offers specialty beers and food presentations for nearly a month.

For smaller parks, a month-long festival might not be a feasible option, but that does not mean that they cannot partake in the perennial partying.

Small But Festive

At Quassy, a small, family-owned park in Connecticut, the Oktoberfest celebration is a one-day event that helps usher out the season. “We have a family week with oldies music and bands and different events,” says public relations director Ron Gustafson. “We close our season with the Oktoberfest celebration. We have regional German bands and dancers, beer and food. We’re a small park, so it’s a nice way for us to end the year.”

On Sunday, October 5, Quassy will hold its twelfth annual Oktoberfest, complete with German music and dancers, bratwurst, traditional German festival sandwiches, and Beck’s beer.

Gustafson says the park serves Beck’s beer every day, and it’s a nice compliment to the German-flavored last day of the season, which also coincides with the last day of the Munich Oktoberfest, making the event that much more appropriate, Gustafson says.

While other parks may be able to capitalize on Halloween events as a season-ending shindig, Gustafson says that is not a very a practical choice for Quassy. “We don’t stay open for Halloween. To do Halloween events, it’s so expensive—especially to do it properly,” he says. “Since we’re not open late into October, Oktoberfest fits nicely with the timing. This is a nice way for us to close the year and say goodbye to our customers for the season.”

In Aurora, Ohio, at the Six Flags World of Adventure, this year marks the twenty-third annual Oktoberfest at the park. The three-day event (September 12-14) combines theme park thrills with ethnic food and entertainment.

More than 40 vendors will serve cultural foods and German favorites such as schnitzel, strudel, and sauerkraut. Lowenbräu co-sponsored the event this year and offered beer-tasting and a chance to learn about beer-making for guests aged 21 and older.

Traditional oompah and polka bands will also be on site in the midways to keep guests entertained musically, and most of the park’s rides will be open.

So whether guest agendas include a ride on the Texas Twister or just a leisurely stroll amongst the Bavarian vendors, Six Flags hopes to appeal to all palates.

That is also the goal of Bingemans, a waterpark, conference center, and campground in Kitchener, Ontario. The park, which was once a working dairy farm owned by the German-proud Bingeman family, has been celebrating Oktoberfest for 35 years. In fact, says marketing assistant Michelle Bolender, the Bingeman celebration has become known as one of the largest Bavarian festivals in the world.

With regional bands and performers entertaining the masses, Oktoberfest has quickly become Bingemans’ No. 1 event in the fall. Bolender says planning for the celebration begins almost immediately after the previous festival ends. Bingemans works in conjunction with the regional Oktoberfest branch, which then distributes its pool of musicians and performers among the various festivals across the region.

Beyond the food and beer, Bolender says, Bingemans strives to bring awareness about German and Bavarian culture to residents and visitors in the Kitchener-Waterloo region. “We’re trying to broaden their horizons,” she says. “It’s not just about beer and sausages. It’s so much more than what people think of when they hear ‘Oktoberfest.’ There’s such a rich history, and so many traditions. And we want to bring that to people.”

Although the general idea—a festival centered on celebration and beer drinking—and many of the events are designed for adults, Bingemans makes sure there are suitable activities for every age group.

Bingemans also uses the opportunity as a chance to give back to the surrounding community. Year after year, various charity groups in the area are given a 75 percent discount so that Bingemans can bring the excitement of the fall festival to as many people as possible. “The more different events we have, the more we are catering to the needs of the community,” Bolender says. “We want to bring that rich history and culture to as many people as possible.”

All in all, Oktoberfest is much more than sausage and lager. It is about a 193-year-old tradition celebrating Bavarian folk life and culture. It is about making people aware of the rich, strong history that flows each year out of a picturesque part of the German countryside.

What was once just an enormous wedding reception has become a worldwide marketing machine for major cities, amusement parks, and partygoers.