After a three-year pandemic hiatus, Oktoberfest 2022 is back in Munich which is the birthplace and epicenter of the celebrations. Contrary to popular belief, that this is actually an October holiday starting on September 17th. Be prepared to say “Ozapft is!” drink beer, eat traditional foods and dance the day away starting at 12 noon. The festivities end on October 3rd, so the time to plan is right now.
As the home of this annual festival, of course, anticipation is high and we have some of the new highlights that you can delve into this year. In the Wiesn showmen’s area:
-The Circus-Circus is the perfect family carousel, each of the twelve gondolas can accommodate up to four passengers. The brakes on the gondola suspension release and the gondolas now swing freely up to 360 degrees. Then the pace picks up and the lift arms begin to rise and fall in a wave motion.
-The “Jungle Archery” shooting shop is also new in the showman area this year. Maximum concentration is required if you try to hit the bull’s eye. Aim, insert the arrow, concentrate and let go.
Oktoberfest visitors can also look forward to three new tents in 2022:
The Pschorrbräu-Festhalle Bräurosl is completely new and was the first to be built this year. As host, Peter Reichert welcomes the guests for the first time.
There is a new tent at the chicken roastery called “Münchner Stubn”. Kathrin Wickenhäuser-Egger and Alexander Egger are looking forward to their Wiesn guests for the first time this year.
The Volkssänger tent gets a new host at the Oidn Wiesn. In the future it will be managed by the host family Stiftl under the name Volkssängerzelt Schützenlisl®.
The “Wiesn Insel Cocktailbar” by Angela Zettl-Nikolic is also new in the gastro area. The cocktail stand with a Caribbean flair became ibuilt in containers, it offers a variety of cocktails and organic drinks.
To give you a perspective of how massive this year’s event will be, a total of 487 businesses were approved for the Wiesn this year, including 145 from the catering trade, 180 showmen’s shops and 2,189 market traders. Around 13,000 people will work at the Oktoberfest this year.
The 17 festival halls together offer around 120,000 seats and Oktoberfest beers from the six major Munich breweries Augustiner, Hacker-Pschorr, Löwenbräu, Paulaner, Spaten and Hofbräu are served with an original proof of around 13 percent.
180 rides, show and amusement shops are available for fun at the Wiesn. Typical of the Oktoberfest is the special mixture of high-tech and nostalgia. In addition to spectacular large rides, there are also traditional companies with around 90 percent of the fairground businesses have their roots in the 19th century.
While there is generally no “oom-pah culture” in Berlin as it is in Bavaria, Berlin might now have an Octoberfest per se, but in early September there will be a Berlin Beer Week. And, in October, many Berlin venues are putting on their own Oktoberfest. Please check the list here for a complete line-up.
