Munich · Oktoberfest

How to Plan Oktoberfest 2027: The Complete Guide

By Ramya ChinnaduraiPublished 9 October 2026Checked 9 October 2026

Oktoberfest 2027 runs from Saturday 18 September to Sunday 3 October 2027 on Munich's Theresienwiese, and the City of Munich has already published those dates. Entry to the main grounds is free, a Mass of beer cost 14.80 to 15.90 euros in 2026, and the single best planning decision you can make is to go on a weekday. Book your bed now, watch the tent websites from February, and keep the weekends for parades rather than tents.

Oktoberfest 2027 dates and how they are set

The rule is simple once you know it. The festival ends on the first Sunday in October, or on 3 October (German Unity Day) if that falls later, and it opens on the Saturday two weeks before. In 2027 the first Sunday in October is 3 October itself, so the festival runs 16 days: Saturday 18 September to Sunday 3 October 2027.

Both oktoberfest.de and muenchen.de list these dates. What the city has not published yet are the 2027 beer prices, the tent opening dates for reservations, or the exact parade start times. Everything priced below is a 2026 figure unless it says otherwise.

The 2027 calendar at a glance:

Opening day: the parade, the tapping and the twelve shots

The first Saturday follows a fixed script.

1. The Einzug der Wiesnwirte (parade of the tent landlords and breweries) sets off from Sonnenstraße at the height of Josephspitalstraße, near Sendlinger Tor, with around 1,000 participants. It runs along Schwanthalerstraße, Hermann-Lingg-Straße and Bavariaring onto the grounds. In 2026 it started at 10:35; the 2027 start time is not yet published. Watching from the roadside is free.
2. Tents open at 9:00, but no beer is served before noon. Soft drinks start at 10:00.
3. At 12:00 sharp the Mayor of Munich taps the first barrel in the Schottenhamel Festhalle and shouts "O'zapft is!". The first Mass traditionally goes to the Bavarian Minister-President.
4. Twelve gun shots are fired in front of the Bavaria statue. Only then may the other tents start pouring.
5. Rides open at 12:00 on opening day.

The honest advice: unless you have a reservation, Schottenhamel at noon is not realistic, and the official FAQ says weekend seats are usually gone by mid-morning. Watch the parade from Sonnenstraße or Schwanthalerstraße, then stream the tapping (Bayerischer Rundfunk broadcasts it live) or enjoy the grounds without a tent seat.

On Sunday 19 September comes the bigger spectacle: the Trachten- und Schützenzug, with more than 8,000 participants in traditional dress, marching bands, riflemen and horse-drawn carriages. It starts at the Max II monument on Maximilianstraße at 10:00 and covers about seven kilometres to the Theresienwiese, finishing around noon. Some bus and tram lines stop running during the parade.

Month-by-month booking timeline

Two booking notes most first-timers miss. First, the tent landlords handle reservations themselves; there is no central booking office. In 2025 Hacker took lunchtime bookings from 20 March, while Augustiner was expected to open to the general public around mid to late May. Treat that as the pattern, not a promise for 2027. Second, reservations must not be resold and landlords usually cancel resold tables, so ignore auction sites and third-party "packages". For the full playbook, read our Oktoberfest tent reservations guide.

What Oktoberfest costs per day (2026 prices)

Entry to the main grounds is free. You pay for what you drink, eat and ride. The landlords set drink prices, and the city checks them for reasonableness.

A realistic day for one adult with two Mass, a half chicken, a pretzel, two big rides and tips lands around 75 to 85 euros at 2026 prices. Add a third Mass and it gets close to 100 euros. Families can use a Sonntagsblatt estimate as a guide: two adults and two children came to roughly 135 to 185 euros for a day in 2026, before tips and transport.

Bring cash. Augustiner, Bräurosl, Löwenbräu and the Ochsenbraterei were cash only in 2026. Most other big tents take an EC (German debit) card, and only some take credit cards. There are ATMs at the entrances, and many stalls and rides take contactless payment.

Weekday vs weekend: how to beat the crowds

The 2026 festival set a record of 7.4 million visitors. The city responded with a campaign called "How to Wiesn" urging people to come Monday to Thursday, and it worked: weekday visits rose 18.5 per cent in the first week and 28.9 per cent in the second. Even so, on the middle and third Saturdays the two main entrances were briefly closed and visitors were redirected to side entrances.

What that means for 2027:

• Best days: Monday to Thursday, especially in the first week (20 to 23 September).
• Hardest days: all three Saturdays (18 September, 25 September, 2 October) and Sunday 3 October, which is also a public holiday.
• Best arrival time on a weekday: at or just before 10:00, when the tents open. You can walk in, choose a table in the unreserved section and settle in before lunch.
• Weekends: be in the queue before 9:00 or accept you will not get a tent seat. Beer gardens are a decent fallback in good weather.
• Weather trick: tents fill faster when it rains. A sunny weekday afternoon is the easiest time to find a seat inside.

The rules on unreserved space help you here. At least a quarter of seats in the big tents can never be reserved. On weekends and holidays a larger share stays free until 15:00; one official page puts it at 40 per cent and another at half, so treat it as "more seats before 3pm". The Oide Wiesn keeps a third of its seats unreserved at all times.

Big tents vs small tents

There are 17 large and 21 small tents. The big ones (Hofbräu, Schottenhamel, Augustiner, Hacker, Paulaner and others) seat thousands and are where most reservations go; some are known for brass music and tradition, others for their evening party. The small tents, including the chicken houses, snack bars and café tents, are smaller and quieter, which makes them easier for a pair or a small group. Last beer in the big tents is 22:30; small tents serve until 23:00. Käfer Wiesn-Schänke and Kufflers Weinzelt stay open until 01:00 with last orders at 00:30.

Our tent reservations guide compares the tents one by one.

The Oide Wiesn: the calmer corner

The Oide Wiesn (Old Wiesn) sits in the south of the grounds and recreates the festival of the past: historic rides at 1.50 euros each, brass and folk music, and dancing in the Festzelt Tradition. In 2026 entry was 4 euros from age 15, free for children up to 14, and free for everyone after 21:00. It drew 447,000 visitors in 2026, against 7.4 million on the main grounds, which tells you how much more room there is.

Its tents include the Festzelt Tradition, the Schützenlisl Volkssängerzelt, the Boandlkramerei and the free Museumszelt. Beer there cost 14.80 to 15.80 euros in 2026. Opening is 10:00 to 23:30 Sunday to Thursday and 10:00 to 24:00 on Friday and Saturday.

The Oide Wiesn pauses in years when the Central Agricultural Festival (ZLF) takes its space. The next ZLF is planned for 2028, so 2027 is expected to have an Oide Wiesn, but the 2027 entry price is not published yet.

Getting there

There is no visitor parking at the Theresienwiese, so come by public transport or on foot.

• Walk from Hauptbahnhof: just under 15 minutes via Hermann-Lingg-Straße, with markings on the ground. This is often faster than squeezing onto the U-Bahn for one stop.
• U4 and U5 to Theresienwiese: the obvious stop, and the busiest. When it overloads, the platform is closed briefly. The official advice is to avoid it at peak times.
• U3 and U6 to Goetheplatz or Poccistraße: a few minutes' walk to the southern and eastern entrances, and much calmer.
• U4 and U5 to Schwanthalerhöhe: the better stop if you are coming from the west.
• S-Bahn and tram 16 or 17 to Hackerbrücke: close by, but Hackerbrücke is closed as needed when pedestrian crowds build, mainly on weekend evenings.
• Other options: trams 18 and 19 to Holzapfelstraße or Hermann-Lingg-Straße, and bus 62 to Hans-Fischer-Straße or Poccistraße.

Going home is easier than arriving, because you skip the bag check and electronic signs point straight to the Theresienwiese station. In 2026 the U-Bahn ran all night on Friday, Saturday and pre-holiday nights, and until about 01:30 on other nights. Bikes, scooters and skateboards are not allowed on the grounds. Nobody may stay on the grounds between 01:30 and 09:00.

The rules you need to know

• Bags: maximum 3 litres, or no bigger than 20 by 15 by 10 cm. Big bags and backpacks go to left luggage at the P1, P5, P8 or P10 entrances for 5 euros, with no guaranteed space.
• Glass: glass bottles may not be brought onto the grounds. Your own drinks are allowed on the grounds but not into tents or beer gardens.
• Beer mugs: they belong to the landlords. In 2026 stewards collected around 105,000 mugs from people trying to take them home.
• Prohibited items: harmful sprays, corrosive or colouring substances, anything usable as a weapon, and animals except assistance dogs.
• Smoking: banned inside tents since 2010; allowed on the grounds and in beer gardens. Cannabis is banned on the whole site.
• Prams and buggies: not allowed at all on Saturdays or on 3 October; on other days only until 18:00.
• Children: under-6s may not be in beer tents after 20:00, even with parents. No alcohol under 16; spirits only from 18.
• Emergencies: call 110. The police station on site runs around the clock in the Service Centre.

What to wear

You do not need Tracht to get in, and plenty of visitors wear normal clothes. If you do wear a dirndl or lederhosen, wear proper shoes and expect to stand for hours. Locals wince at sneakers with lederhosen, and the side you tie your dirndl bow on sends a signal. Our dirndl and lederhosen guide covers where to buy or rent and how to wear it right.

Where to stay

Anywhere on the U3, U4, U5 or U6, or within walking distance of Hauptbahnhof, works, because those lines and the station put you within a short walk or ride of the grounds. Our where to stay for Oktoberfest guide compares neighbourhoods by walking time and noise.

Oktoberfest with kids

Go on a weekday morning, ideally on a family day: Tuesday 21 or Tuesday 28 September 2027. In 2026 many rides, stalls and snack stands offered reduced prices until 19:00 on those days, with discounts set by each business. Use a baby carrier or a light buggy (and leave before 18:00), and pick a meeting point in advance. The city recommends the entrance to the festival management in the Service Centre behind the Schottenhamel tent, not the Bavaria or the Ferris wheel. More in our Oktoberfest with kids guide.

Etiquette: Prost, benches and ordering

• Order a Mass, not "a beer". Beer comes by the litre. Asking for "a Mass" signals you know the drill and is faster.
• Order from your table's server. Be friendly and patient, and in a cash-only tent have small notes ready.
• Tip by rounding up. Servers rely heavily on tips. A euro or two per Mass is normal, and a server who remembers you will come back faster.
• Stand on the bench, never the table. Dancing on benches is part of the evening. Climbing on tables is banned in most tents, and security will remove you quickly.
• Do not down your Mass. Landlords do not tolerate chugging, and it is one of the fastest ways to be shown the exit.
• Join "Ein Prosit". When the band strikes it up, the whole table sings along, raises their mugs and toasts together.
• Do not save seats. You cannot hold places for friends arriving later. Stewards and servers stop it.

What locals know

• The lunch menu is the best deal on the grounds. Many tents run cheaper lunch menus, mostly Monday to Thursday.
• The free water is real. There are ten drinking fountains on the main grounds and two on the Oide Wiesn, mostly at the toilet blocks. Bring an unbreakable bottle.
• Use any entrance. All entrances around the grounds are open, and in 2026 the main entrances were briefly closed on the busiest Saturdays. A side gate near your U-Bahn stop is usually quicker.
• Lost something? The lost property office is in the Deutsches Museum Verkehrszentrum on Theresienhöhe, open 13:00 to 20:00. Items arrive the day after they are found at the earliest.
• The second Sunday concert is free and quiet. On 26 September 2027 the tent bands play together at the foot of the Bavaria from 11:00 to 13:00.
• The last day ends with a bang. At 12:00 on 3 October there is a traditional gun salute on the steps below the Bavaria.

A sample weekday plan

1. 09:30: walk from Hauptbahnhof via Hermann-Lingg-Straße, or ride the U3 or U6 to Goetheplatz.
2. 10:00: enter as the tents open. Pick a big tent and claim an unreserved table.
3. 11:30: order the lunch menu and your first Mass.
4. 14:00: walk the grounds, ride the Ferris wheel and something faster before the evening queues.
5. 15:30: head to the Oide Wiesn for historic rides and brass music.
6. 18:00: take a small tent or beer garden for dinner and a second Mass.
7. 21:00: if you are still going, Oide Wiesn entry was free from this time in 2026.
8. 22:30: last orders in the big tents; walk out to the U-Bahn or back to Hauptbahnhof.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Arriving at a big tent at 14:00 on a Saturday without a reservation.
• Bringing a backpack and losing 30 minutes at left luggage.
• Buying a table from a resale site, then finding it cancelled at the door.
• Assuming you can pay by card everywhere.
• Using Theresienwiese station at peak time when Goetheplatz or a 15-minute walk is easier.
• Planning a buggy visit on a Saturday or on 3 October, when buggies are banned.
• Climbing onto the table, or downing a Mass. Both get you removed.
• Trying to take the Mass mug home.
• Booking a non-refundable room before you have chosen weekday dates.

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