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The tap
Since 1950 the Mayor of Munich has opened Oktoberfest with a 12-gun salute
On the opening day the Mayor of Munich opens the festival with a 12-gun salute and the cry O'zapft is!, which means It's tapped! The custom dates from 1950. The festival runs on the Theresienwiese, a meadow of 42 hectares, from mid-September to the first Sunday in October.
7.2 millionVisitors in 2023, a record
The wedding
The meadow was named for a bride, Princess Therese
On 12 October 1810 Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria married Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. Munich officials invited the public to celebrate on fields outside the city walls. The following year the site was named Theresienwiese, Therese's Meadow, and people still call it the Wiesn.
The race
The first festival was a horse race run by thirty horses over 3,400 metres
Sixteen pairs of children in regional costume opened the programme, and thirty horses ran a course of 3,400 metres, modelled on the medieval Scharlachrennen once run at the Karlstor. Sendlinger Hill, now Theresienhöhe, served as a natural grandstand for about 40,000 spectators. Baumgartner's horse won, and a student choir closed the event.
Every year
In 1819 Munich's city council decreed that Oktoberfest be held every year
Munich's city council assumed control in 1819 and decreed that Oktoberfest be held annually. During the century the opening was moved into late September to take advantage of warmer evenings, so only the final days now fall in October. A Greek delegation that visited in 1832 later cited the festival as a model for the Zappas Olympics.
26 September 1980
A pipe bomb exploded near the main entrance on 26 September 1980
On 26 September 1980 a pipe bomb exploded near the main entrance, killing 13 people and injuring more than 225. It was the second-deadliest terrorist attack in Germany. At Esperantoplatz, on the eastern edge of the grounds, a memorial commemorates the victims of the bombing.
Day 2, midday
It comes after Sendlinger Tor. Then Bavaria statue.
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The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Theresienwiese and the Wikipedia article Oktoberfest, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.