Learn the History
Oktoberfest first occurred on the 12th of October in 1810 in Munich as a celebration of the marriage between Bavaria’s Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. The fields that held the festival were named “Theresienwiese” or “Theresa’s Meadow” and are still dubbed as so today. Though, many locals simply call it “Wiesn.”
Nowadays, Oktoberfest dedicates itself to fall harvest and beer. It is currently one of the largest festivals in the world and brings in 6 million visitors from near and far. Additionally, only six Munich breweries are allowed to serve beer to those 6 million people! Five million liters are annually consumed at the 16-day festival. Think we got ’em beat?
Honoring Tradition
At Schulz Bräu, we do our best to stick to tradition. Therefore, we go on Munich time for the barrel tapping ceremony that starts the 16-day festival! Munich starts at 12PM? We start at 6AM! (Don’t fret though, we do things according to our time for the rest of the festival!) We are lucky to say that the 6-9AM Barrel Tapping tickets have sold out every year that we’ve hosted the festival. Who knew beer tasted better first thing in the morning?
Similar to Munich, we attempt to have the Mayor in attendance every year to tap the first barrel – though, Nico isn’t scared to take over if needed. Once the barrels are tapped, the celebrations do not stop until we close at midnight. After that, during our regularly scheduled hours, the festival lasts for just over two weeks and ends with a sing-along of “Sierra Madre” and fireworks.
The Festivities
What occurs? Well, we try our best to keep each weekend jam-packed with entertainment and enthusiasm. With Sunday brunches, 8+ hours of live music every night, stein-hoisting competitions, brat-eating contests, wiener dog racing, interactive Polka dancing, and sing-alongs, most visitors are definitely left in need of a cold, delicious beer to counteract all the spent energy. Good thing we keep a little bit of beer on hand. As a special touch for the festival, we release our limited-edition Oktoberfest Märzen craft beer for the fall season.
During the weekdays, we give everyone a little time to recover. The days are still filled with live music and food and beer, but the atmosphere is a little more laid back… until the night at least!
Crowds from all over come in to celebrate Oktoberfest with us. Many visitors are out of state and are either going to or coming from the Oktoberfest in Munich when they visit us! A week in Germany then a week with us? Sounds like the best way to celebrate!
Thank You!
We can’t wait to make every year bigger and better! Thanks to community support and staff enthusiasm, each year has become more and more festive. Excited for this year? See you there!
