The first Oktoberfest was held in 1810 to celebrate the wedding of Prince Ludwig, who later became King Ludwig I of Bavaria. The celebration featured horse races, which were repeated the following year, and the festival became an annual event. Beer stands were introduced in 1818, and these were changed to the now-famous beer tents in 1896. The drink is a major feature of the event, and this year's visitors are expected to top last year's numbers of 5 million liters of beer and 650,000 pork sausages consumed.

首屆“啤酒節”于1810年舉行，為了慶祝路德維格王子的婚禮，嗣后他成了巴伐利亞路德維格一世國王。賽馬是慶祝活動的特色，來年亦再度舉行，此節日因而成為一年一度例行的大事。啤酒攤首次引入是在1818年，到了1896年這些攤位已成為今日盛名遠揚的啤酒棚。喝啤酒是這個節慶的主要特色，去年游客飲用了超過500萬公升的啤酒，吃掉了65萬條以上的豬肉香腸，預計今年的游客將超過去年的消費數字。