Planning a trip to Oktoberfest 2009 in Munich this year?  The best resource is the festivals official site found at www.oktoberfest.de

A couple of important topics include:

Dates and General FAQs

Essential and useful information about the Oktoberfest:

On Saturday, September 19th, the Schottenhamel tent is the place to be, if you want to catch the official opening ceremonies. At noontime, 12pm, the lord mayor of Munich will have the honor of tapping the first keg of Oktoberfest beer. Once the barrel has been tapped, all visitors will then be allowed to quench their thirst. It pays to arrive early in order to experience the festivities up close and personal and it’s quite common for visitors to come around 9am to secure good seats. The festival will last until October 4th, 2009.

What are the opening hours?
Beer Serving Hours
Weekdays: 10am – 10:30pm
Saturdays, Sundays and holidays: 9am – 10:30pm

Daily Tent Closing Time: 11:30pm
The “Käfer Wiesn-Schänke” and the “Weinzelt” are open until 1am. Last call for alcohol: 12:15am.

Sales Booths (souveniors, cigarettes, etc.)
Monday – Thursday: 10am – 11:30pm
Friday: 10am – 12am (midnight)
Saturday: 9am – 12am
Sundays and holidays:9am – 11:30pm

If you don’t want to carry home the souvenirs, we suggest oktoberfesthaus.com

Carnival and Rides
Monday – Thursday: 10am – 11:30pm
Friday, Saturday: 10am – 12am
Sundays and holidays: 10am – 11:30pm

Family Days
Every tuesday from 12pm until 6pm
Discounted ride, entrance, and sales prices!

When is Oktoberfest scheduled for the next years?

2010: September 18 – October 3
2011: September 17 – October 3
2012: September 22 – October 7

Reservations at the Oktoberfest

Finding a place in one of the big beer tents is a rather difficult thing. Reservations help, but are hard to get.

Can I reserve seats for Oktoberfest through Oktoberfest.de?
Unfortunately, you cannot reserve seats in the beer tents via Oktoberfest.de. We can neither answer queries concerning reservations nor forward your requests to the beer tent employees and hosts. We do not keep a reservation list. Therefore, we are not able to answer your questions about seating availability and reservations.

How can I book seats in the beer tents?
It is only possible to book seats through the individual tents. The contact details are available in the category Tents.
If you are unable to reserve a place in the bigger beer tents or you’d rather experience the coziness of smaller tent, have a look at the Small and Medium Tents for something more suitable.

May I enter the beer tents without a reservation?
Certainly, you can visit the beer tents; nevertheless, you should arrive as early as possible, especially, if there is a large group with you. For instance, during the week, arrive no later than 2:30pm and on the weekends, it’s best to go in the morning. Otherwise, you run the risk of not being able to enter the tents at all because they’re already full. Larger groups should expect to wait in line like others – those without seats won’t be served any beer!

It’s all about the beer…

It’s all about the beer…

Price:

A “Mass”, one litre of beer, will cost between 8,30 € and 8,60 € this year.

Serving times:

Beer will be sold in the tents from 10.00 to 22.30 on weekdays and from 9.00 to 22.30 on saturdays, sundays and holidays.

Where to get which beer:

• Augustiner: Augustiner-Festhalle, Fischer-Vroni
• Paulaner: Armbrustschützenzelt, Winzerer Fähndl, Käfer’s Wies’n Schänke
• Spaten-Franziskaner: Hippodrom, Schottenhammel, Ochsenbraterei/Spatenbräu-Festhalle
• Löwenbräu: Schützen-Festzelt, Löwenbräu-Festhalle
• Hacker-Pschorr: Hacker-Festzelt, Bräurosl
• Hofbräu: Hofbräu Festzelt

The Bavarian Purity Requirements:

It’s no coincidence, that Bavaria has the best beer in the world: Since the 16th century there have been strong regulations about brewing beer and how to keep up the high quality of the final product by choosing the ingredients very carefully. One of the oldest laws concerning food and drink are the Bavarian Purity Requirements, decreed by Duke William IV. in 1516: Only water, hops and barley should be used to brew Bavarian beer.

Beer Tokens

Mostly companies hand out beer tokens (“Biermarken” in German) to their guests, which can then be exchanged for beer in the respective tents. If you want to buy beer tokens, please contact the tent-owners directly.