How to Feast for Oktoberfest

As the weather starts to take a turn towards the chilly, we start looking forward to our favorite parts of the season; like the falling of the leaves or special events like Oktoberfest.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this event, Oktoberfest is a 16-18 day Volkfest (beer festival and traveling funfair) held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. During this festival large quantities of Oktoberfest beer, a.k.a. beer brewed within the city limits of Munich, are drunk and attendees enjoy a wide array of attractions from amusement parks to games. While the festival originated from Germany and focuses on Bavarian traditions, this event is celebrated in various iterations around the world.

The first Oktoberfest was held on October 12, 1810, and has since become the largest beer festival in the world. In 2019, 6.3 million people attended the festival and drank over 7 million liters of beer. Aside from the copious amounts of beer poured, Oktoberfest is known for the delicious varieties of food presented.

Here are some traditional foods served for Oktoberfest:

• Pretzels (Brezen)
• Potato or Flour Dumplings (Knödel)
• Sausages (Würstl)
• Potato Pancakes (Reiberdatschi), very similar to Latkes
• Saukerkraut
• Roasted Chicken (Brathendl)
• Kasespätzle, nicknamed “German Mac & Cheese”

While Oktober festival will not be held in Germany in 2021, you will still be able to celebrate in your own way with these traditional Oktoberfest foods.