Oktoberfest with Kids

I get the same reaction almost every time I tell people we took our two kids, 3 years old and 1 year old, to Oktoberfest… The look of shock and confusion. ‘Why would you want to take them to a huge party like that?!’ But mostly referencing what they’ve seen on movies like Beerfest or seeing funny memes online. As some of these references are similar, the majority of the experience was probably more fun for the kids than us.

This past September we flew direct to Munich to experience Oktoberfest (runs from middle of September to first few days in October). We only knew a couple friends that have been to the festival so we didn’t have too much to reference off of when having our kids tag along. We figured, worse case, Munich is one of our favorite European cities so if Oktoberfest did not work out, we would enjoy the trip either way. Little did we know, the Oktoberfest grounds were an absolute playground for our kids. The amount of kids that were on the grounds with other families was refreshing to see. For those contemplating going to the world famous festival, I would’t think twice about bringing my kids back again. We all had so much fun and they loved the excitement. Below is a few tips and suggestions :

• Oktoberfest location : The fairgrounds are located just to the West of downtown and South of the main train depot called Meadow of Therese. It is easily walkable from downtown and or you can get off at the Theresienwiese metro stop.
  

• Oktoberfest is HUGE : For our US friends, imagine a state fair and the grounds it is on. Now multiply that by ten. The grounds seem to go on forever and hold thousands of people. You can walk for hours and not see the same thing. It is filled with food vendors, carnival rides, souvenir shops, and of course... beer halls.
  

• The beer halls seem EVEN BIGGER! : The beer halls are absolutely massive. Like, 6,500 people capacity massive. And there are 14 of them! You are almost overwhelmed with the sheer size of the building and the seemingly endless amount of massive picnic tables lined up from end to end. You find an open seat and you are given a food menu and options for beer. My go-to was alway the liter of beer and a half chicken. I don’t know if it was the food or the ambiance but it was some of the best food and drink I have had in my life.

• Kids at a beer hall : Everyone loves babies at a beer hall! You can bring kids in before a specific time during the day (I believe it was 6pm). The amount of attention my kids got in the halls was so much fun. From our waitress asking them questions about their names and ages to the elderly gentleman that was dancing along with them as the band played, everyone seemed to get a kick out of getting their attention. Then came the food… They loved holding a pretzel that was larger than half their body. Drinking lemonade from their own glass that was dwarfed by Dad’s beer (which they also liked to pretend they were drinking). Everyone had a good laugh watching them dance to the live German music played on stage, not caring about the hundreds of people watching them at the time.

• So many rides : Everything from rollercoasters to kids rides, this campus had everything you could dream of. We spend a bit of time letting them do kids rides while we rested from walking around all day.
  

• Other attractions : There is so much to do on the grounds from trying typical German food like 1’ long sausages, sauerkraut, and donuts to watching adults attempting coordination games after multiple hours at the beer halls. The people and crowds could not have been better. Other fun things for the kids were the kids games, souvenirs, and beer delivery horses!

As a parent that frequently travels with my kids, Oktoberfest was a very easy destination. It was full of excitement for both kids and adults. We were able to walk around a very walk able Munich and spend most of our time at the world famous festival!