Oktoberfest 2026

The world's largest folk festival is, at heart, a Munich neighbourhood fair that got out of hand two hundred years ago. The 191st Oktoberfest runs Saturday 19 September to Sunday 4 October 2026 on the Theresienwiese, sixteen days of tents, rides, brass bands, and roughly six million visitors. Entry to the grounds and the big tents is free; you pay for what you eat, drink, and ride.

Dates and opening times

The festival opens at noon on the first Saturday, when the Lord Mayor taps the first keg in the Schottenhamel tent with the traditional cry of "O'zapft is!" — no beer is served anywhere before that. After opening day, the big tents pour on weekdays from 10:00 and on weekends from 9:00, with last orders around 22:30 and closing at 23:30. Käfer Wiesn-Schänke and the Weinzelt stay open past midnight if the evening will not let you go.

The tents

There are 17 large tents and 21 smaller ones, and they have distinct personalities: Augustiner-Festhalle is widely considered the most local and family-friendly of the big tents, Hacker-Festzelt ("the Bavarian heaven") and Schottenhamel skew young and loud, the Ochsenbraterei is the one for ox roast, and the Weinzelt is the escape hatch for anyone who cannot face another Maß. Smaller tents like the Ammer chicken and duck roastery are calmer and easier to sit down in. The Oide Wiesn, a nostalgic section at the southern end with historic rides and slower music, charges a small entry fee and is the calmest corner of the festival, which suits families and anyone allergic to crowds.

Reservations, or how to get a seat without one

Tent reservations are free but tied to minimum-consumption vouchers (typically two Maß and half a chicken per person) and are booked directly with each tent, mostly months in advance. You do not need one: every tent must keep a share of its seats unreserved, and on weekday afternoons you will find space by simply walking in. What you should not do is arrive at 18:00 on a Saturday and expect to sit. Standing at a table is fine; you will only be served beer while seated in most tents.

When to go

• Weekday lunch to mid-afternoon is the relaxed Wiesn: locals, families, no queue for anything.
• Tuesdays are family days (22 and 29 September), with reduced prices on rides and snacks until 19:00.
• The first Sunday brings the costume and riflemen's parade through the city centre in the morning, and the grounds stay pleasant until early afternoon.
• Avoid the Saturdays and the middle weekend if crowds are not your idea of fun; 3 October, a public holiday across Germany, is reliably the fullest day of all.

Practical matters

• Money: tents run largely on cash. Card acceptance is growing but patchy, and the ATMs on the grounds have queues of their own. The city's official 2026 tent prices put a Maß between 14.80 and 15.90 euros; a full evening for two with food is comfortably three figures.
• Bags: large bags and rucksacks are banned from the grounds, and security checks are thorough. Bring as little as possible.
• What to wear: Tracht is optional and genuinely common, not a costume party — but nobody is turned away in normal clothes. Comfortable shoes matter more than the outfit; you will stand, walk, and dance on benches.
• Getting there: take the U4 or U5 to Theresienwiese, or the U3/U6 to Goetheplatz or Poccistraße, which are often less crushed. The Hackerbrücke S-Bahn stop works too. Do not drive; there is nowhere to park.

Around the festival

The Wiesn spills into the city: the tent landlords' parade on the opening Saturday, the costume parade on the first Sunday, and the open-air concert of all the tent bands beneath the Bavaria statue on the second Sunday morning are all free to watch. Dated Wiesn events appear on the calendar as they are confirmed, and the Local & Seasonal mode collects everything with a Bavarian soul.