Oktoberfest 2023: Innovations and new things for the showmen and tents
Fri 07/28/23 • 18:34 pm
From September 16 to October 3, the largest folk festival in the world takes place on the Theresienwiese. At the 188th Oktoberfest this year, you can celebrate for a whole 18 days. The start will be the traditional tapping of the barrel by Mayor Dieter Reiter on September 16 at 12 noon in the Schottenhamel Festival Hall.
The festival area
The festival site covers an area of 34.5 hectares. 898 companies have applied for Oktoberfest 2023. 474 businesses were approved this year, including 140 from the catering trade, 138 fairground businesses, 196 market traders and several service businesses. There will be 39 businesses at the Oidn Wiesn, 14 of which are gastronomic, 23 showmen's shops and two market traders.
The Oktoberfest offers: Festival beer and food
In the 17 festival halls with a total of around 120,000 seats, the special Oktoberfest beers from the six traditional Munich breweries Augustiner, Hacker-Pschorr, Löwenbräu, Paulaner, Spaten and Staatliches Hofbräuhaus are served with an original gravity of around 13 percent.
There is also a wide range of dishes from classic to vegan. A total of 39 gastronomic medium-sized and large companies invite you to celebrate. The price for a Mass Festbier varies between 12.60 and 14.90 euros. The average prices for non-alcoholic beverages are 10.04 euros per liter for table water, 11.65 euros for soft drinks and 11.17 euros for lemonade.
New at the Oktoberfest 2023
The Oktoberfest changes every year. Even if there are no new marquees or innkeepers this year, a lot has happened. For the first time, hosts will have online portals where unused reservations can be exchanged or sold at the original price. An important step to push back the gray market, where thousands of euros were often asked for a table. 20 medium-sized and large gastronomic businesses have already opted for the Oktoberfest-Booking.com portal as a solution.
At the Oktoberfest 2023, the menu requirement when reserving a table in the festival halls is also off the table. The decision to allocate a reservation can no longer depend on the selection of a menu. The minimum consumption in the main aisles of the tents is usually two liters of beer and half a roast chicken. In the boxes and galleries, a consumption voucher of 15 euros is added. There are special rules for the Käfer-Wiesn-Schänke and the Weinzelt.
More service for the guests: for the first time there will be information stands at three important points on the festival site, near the main entrance, on Schaustellerstrasse and on Matthias-PschorrSeite 2 Strasse. The official Oktoberfest souvenirs, such as the Oktoberfest mug, the Oktoberfest poster and badges can also be purchased there. If you want to equip yourself before your visit, you can purchase the products online in the official Oktoberfest shop at www.oktoberfest-shop.eu.
New in the areas of attraction and gastronomy
A novelty regulation ensures that the Munich Oktoberfest remains attractive for innovations in the field of rides and entertainment shops. In this way, the festival can assert its attraction between tradition and modernity. In 2023, Wiesn fans can look forward to a new ride and two new running shops:
At the “Mr. Gravity” ten gondolas for two people rotate on a disc. The disc is mounted on an arm that can also rotate in both directions. It can be extended up to a height of 20 meters. At full height, the disc is then almost vertical. During the journey, speeds of up to 100 kilometers per hour are reached (Schausteller Street No. 42).
On the two floors of the "Crazy Outback" running store, there is a koala washing station and a kangaroo boxing school, for example. A labyrinth, wobbly stairs, corridors with a vibrating floor, light shows and much more make the running shop an experience for the whole family. Children from the age of seven may travel unaccompanied by an adult. For younger children whose companions do not dare to go to the Crazy Outback, the shop offers a kids guide who will walk them through the shop (Str. 4 No. 18).
The "Crazy Island" running course takes guests to the Caribbean. With its five floors, it is Germany's largest adventure running store. There are over 50 obstacles to overcome. The show and amusement store impresses with a large water basin of 290 square meters over a front length of 29 meters. There is also a 10 meter high waterfall under an LED multi-screen wall, four-dimensional effects and a suspension bridge between floors. Children from the age of two can participate, children under the age of two can be taken along free of charge by an accompanying adult (Str. 3 East No. 7).
The "Münchner Weinstub'n" is new in the gastronomy sector. The standing tavern is made of real wood, the alpine hut style is intended to create a "grey" feel-good atmosphere. Various wines that have been awarded the "Bio-Bavaria" seal are on offer (Str.3 Ost No. 9).
Anniversaries and construction site tours
There are five anniversaries at the Oktoberfest 2023: 99 years of Krinoline, 50 years of Käfer Schänke, 40 years of joke photography by Christopher Doherty (Oide Wiesn), 20 years of the Sichere Wiesn campaign and the 15,000 beheadings at the Schichtl play. Construction site tours on the Theresienwiese again This year, Munich Tourism is once again offering construction site tours with official guides at the weekends, opening the gates to the large construction site exclusively on Saturdays and Sundays. at 9.30 a.m. and at 12 p.m. The first tour started on July 29, the last tour on August 27.
Organic gastronomy and eco-Oktoberfest
The Oktoberfest also fits into the global trend and will focus on organic food in 2023. While in 2015 only two large festival tents had organic dishes on the menu, this year organic dishes will be found in almost all large tents. The vegetarian and vegan range has also been expanded compared to the previous year. With a selection of 80 dishes, almost every tent offers vegan and vegetarian alternatives. The Käfer-Wiesn-Schänke (twelve vegetarian and four vegan dishes) are the front-runners, followed by Kufflers Weinzelt and the Schottenhamel festival hall, each with eight vegan or vegetarian dishes. As early as 1997, the Oktoberfest was awarded the federal project prize for “environmental guidelines for major events”, the so-called “ÖkoOscar”.
Even today, the largest folk festival in the world sets standards in the implementation of environmentally friendly and ecologically relevant measures at major events: waste reduction, water recycling, use of M-green electricity and food from certified organic cultivation and species-appropriate animal husbandry. In 2023, 15 of the large marquees will be using green electricity. Water recycling is already available in eight tents. Three tents are completely climate-neutral, including Kufflers Weinzelt, which this year is declaring war on food waste in cooperation with "United Against Waste e.V." In practice, this means the daily measurement and analysis of food waste during the Oktoberfest. After an evaluation, measures can then be implemented for the next year.
As early as 1997, the Oktoberfest was awarded the federal project prize for "environmental guidelines for major events", the so-called "ÖkoOscar". Even today, the largest folk festival in the world sets standards in the implementation of environmentally friendly and ecologically relevant measures at major events: waste reduction, water recycling, use of M-green electricity and food from certified organic cultivation and species-appropriate animal husbandry.
In 2023, 15 of the large marquees will be using green electricity. Water recycling is already available in eight tents. Three tents are completely climate-neutral, including Kufflers Weinzelt, which this year is declaring war on food waste in cooperation with "United Against Waste e.V." In practice, this means the daily measurement and analysis of food waste during the Oktoberfest. After an evaluation, measures can then be implemented for the next year.
