The Beer Tradition That Always Signals The Start Of Oktoberfest

Often regarded as the biggest beer festival in the world, Munich's Oktoberfest is an international magnet for aficionados of traditional German brews like Kölsches and pilsners (or just for anybody who likes a bustling festive atmosphere). But at the start of the festival — usually in late September, not October, to take advantage of warmer weather — you won't be able to get your hands on a beer until one specific ceremony takes place.

Oktoberfest traditionally kicks off on a Saturday, and guests can enter the Theresienwiese (the festival site, sometimes called the "Wiesn") from 9 a.m., and enjoy traditional foods like bratwurst and gingerbread hearts, as well as nonalcoholic beverages. But for beer, they have to wait until noon, at which time Munich's mayor taps the first keg of the festival. There's a whole process here: It takes place in the Schottenhamel Festhalle, Oktoberfest's largest tent, named for the family who created stronger-than-average Oktoberfest beer. In recent years, 2024 included, mayor Dieter Reiter (pictured above) has had the honors: The job requires him to hammer in a tap, and pour a one-liter glass (called a "mass") of beer. He hands this over to Bavaria's premier — equivalent to a state governor – shouting out the phrase "O'zapft is," meaning "it is tapped." This phrase comes from the Bavarian dialect of German; in standard German, it would be "es ist angezapft." Then a gun salute happens at the base of a major statue on the festival site, alerting all the other beer tents that they can start pouring.

Although Oktoberfest dates back to 1810, this opening ceremony is a somewhat more recent addition to the festivities. The first mayor to tap a barrel to open the festival was Thomas Wimmer in 1950: Histories of that festival suggest that it was perhaps not a very formalized or organized "ceremony." The mayor reportedly rushed in from another fair he had opened, and settled on the Schottenhamel tent because it was the easiest one to access; that tent has stuck as the location for the opening in future years. The tradition of handing the first beer to Bavaria's premier came later — this started occurring sometime in the 1980s.

Somewhat amusingly, different Munich mayors have had different skill levels when it comes to tapping Oktoberfest's first keg. The task requires them to knock a tap into the wooden keg with a large mallet; it's usually a somewhat messy job, with beer leaking out of the gaps around the tap. The goal is for the mayor to get the tap in with as few whacks as possible: Mayor Wimmer may have started the tradition, but he was the worst at it, requiring 17 hits to get the tap into the barrel. Meanwhile, current mayor Reiter got it down to just two hits — but on his first attempt in 2014, he required four. He and his predecessor Christian Ude both hold the record, with two hits, but Ude also needed several more on his first year officiating the ceremony.