What's the deal with Oktoberfest?

Oktoberfest!

What's it all about? Why's it in September? Why should I care? I'll answer those and other questions you might have about the centuries old festival that is now celebrated world-wide by imbibing large amounts of beer and dancing while sporting traditional Bavarian attire.

Oktoberfest was first celebrated in 1810 as a marriage celebration- talk about the best wedding reception ever! Prince Ludwig of Bavaria was married to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen, who was puportedly on the list of potential brides to Napoleon- the celebration lasted 5 days and the following year the king decided to repeat the spectacle. The moved the festival a few weeks earlier to coincide with the harvest ending and resulted in a rager of a party that we still recreate today.

Here in Frankenmuth we were the first community outside of Munich to host an Oktoberfest celebration with the blessing of the original Oktoberfest, granted by German Parliment in 1996.

If you've been around Frankenmuth enough, you'll notice that we take a lot of pride in our German heritage- and along with that pride, we embrace every opportunity to celebrate our German heritage. At Frankenmuth's Oktoberfest you'll hear authentic German songs, see German dances, wear German clothes, and feel like you're back in 1811, celebrating Prince Ludwig and his beautiful Bride! PROST!