Oktoberfest is celebrated because it started as a royal wedding party in Munich in 1810 and then turned into an annual folk festival that honors Bavarian culture, community, and tradition.

A Royal Wedding that Never Ended

Oktoberfest began as the celebration of the wedding between Prince Ludwig (later King Ludwig I of Bavaria) and Princess Therese of Saxony‑Hildburghausen on 12 October 1810. The couple’s wedding feast was held in a large meadow just outside Munich, now called Theresienwiese (Therese’s Meadow, or “the Wies’n” in Bavarian slang). Citizens from all over Munich were invited, and the festivities lasted several days, ending with a big horse race that drew tens of thousands of people.

Because the celebration was so popular and joyful, Munich decided to repeat the horse race the next year, and gradually it became an annual October event. Over time, more elements were added: an agricultural fair (to support Bavarian farmers), music, carnival rides, and of course, beer tents.

From Wedding to World’s Biggest Volksfest

The city of Munich officially took over organizing the festival in 1819, and from that point on, it grew into a massive public festival known as a “Volksfest” (people’s festival). Over the 19th and 20th centuries, the focus shifted from mainly agricultural shows to a huge celebration of Bavarian food, music (oom‑pah bands), traditional costumes (dirndls and lederhosen), and beer brewed according to centuries‑old purity laws.

Today, the original Oktoberfest in Munich is the world’s largest folk festival, drawing millions of visitors each year who come not just to drink beer, but to experience Bavarian hospitality, music, and community spirit.

Why People Celebrate Oktoberfest Today

Modern Oktoberfest celebrations (both in Munich and around the world) are about:

  • Honoring Bavarian tradition – Wearing traditional clothes, singing folk songs, and enjoying foods like pretzels, sausages, and roast chicken.
  • Community and togetherness – The festival is a chance to gather with friends, family, and strangers in a lively, inclusive atmosphere.
  • Celebrating local culture and beer – The event highlights the quality of Bavarian beer and the region’s centuries‑old brewing heritage.

So we celebrate Oktoberfest not to mark a specific historical event each year, but to keep alive the spirit of that joyful 1810 wedding gathering: a big, happy, communal party rooted in Bavarian culture.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.