Starting as a royal wedding party, Oktoberfest is now the world’s largest beer festival. Drawing millions of people every year, the tradition reaches across continents as cities far from Bavaria adapt it to their own cultures. From Tokyo to São Paulo, Oktoberfest is a global beer celebration that spotlights local flavor and Bavarian roots.

This global spread mirrors how a centuries-old event continues to reinvent itself in new cultural settings. It highlights the festival’s power to connect people through music, food and shared traditions.

How Oktoberfest went global

Oktoberfest originated with a wedding, one that people have celebrated for over 200 years . Munich held the inaugural Oktoberfest in 1810 in honor of Prince Ludwig’s marriage to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen

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