Beyond Oktoberfest: alternative beer festivals in Bavaria

No one would deny that Oktoberfest is the king of all beer festivals, attracting over 6 million annual visitors and making a significant contribution to the Munich economy. And, yes, it is an epic festival, but accommodations are booked up a year in advance and a tankard of beer costs about €15. All of which makes the idea of sampling other beer festivals throughout Bavaria increasingly attractive.

Known largely to locals, these festivals in the southern German state are among the biggest and liveliest in Europe in their own right.

1. Gäubodenvolksfest, Straubing

Dating back to 1812, Straubing’s little-known Gäubodenvolksfest is in fact the second-largest folk (meaning beer in this context) festival in Bavaria after Oktoberfest, and this one has better weather and the occasional free seat. From mid-July to late August, the event attracts well over a million visitors – a mammoth number for an otherwise nondescript town of 50,000 people.

As at Oktoberfest, there’s a fun fair and other distractions unrelated to the hop-based beverages, yet it’s the 100,000 sq m of tent space shared between seven local breweries that draw crowds looking to quench their thirst in the summer heat. What’s more, the beer costs around three-quarters of what it does at Munich’s better-known lager shebang – reason enough to head to this corner of eastern Bavaria.

2. Frühlingsfest, Munich

If springtime beer in Munich appeals, Frühlingsfest (Spring Festival) is for you. Held since 1965 on the same hallowed gravel as Oktoberfest (the Theresienwiese, near Munich’s main railway station), it’s but a baby in the Bavarian beer-festival world. In one sense a kind of rehearsal for the main event later in the year, Frühlingsfest is also a massive event in its own right. It’s the first big outdoor folksy fun of the year, featuring a fair, fireworks and a famous flea market. Beer lovers should know that not all of Munich's six major breweries take part, and a 1L stein comes in at almost the same price as at Oktoberfest. Yet there’s still plenty of beer to go around.

3. Herbstfest, Erding

The third-largest beer festival in Bavaria takes place in the small commuter town of Erding. Does that name ring a bell? That’s probably because your local supermarket stocks Erdinger Weissbier, which is the best wheat beer in the world for many drinkers. The huge brewery in town brews up millions of liters of wheat lager a year, making it the world’s largest producer. Herbstfest (Autumn Festival) takes place in the first week of September, getting Oktoberfest drinkers in the mood for the big event to come two weeks later. A 1L tankard of local wheat beer runs a third of the price as at Oktoberfest, and the Erding atmosphere is more family oriented. So get out your best lederhosen or dirndl a bit early, and hop on the S2 S-Bahn line for this wheat-beer preview of Oktoberfest.

4. Volksfest, Dachau

Joined at the hip with Munich, the town of Dachau is normally associated with the darkest days of the Nazis. But once a year the community puts all of its historical associations to the side to party. The Dachau Volksfest takes place in mid-August on the town’s main square, where 300,000 drinkers gather to enjoy some of the most reasonably priced beer of any similar festival in the region.

5. Starkbierzeit, Munich

The Starkbierzeit (literally “Time of Strong Beer”) originated in the 17th century, when Paulaner monks brewed strong, nourishing beer called Doppelbock to sustain themselves while fasting during Lent. Still held in the run-up to Easter, this most pious of alcohol-based fasts isn’t held at a single site, instead playing out at various breweries and taverns across the Bavarian capital. It’s also an evening thing, so forget those beer-and-chicken breakfasts of the Oktoberfest meadow. While the main dispensary remains the Nockherberg, where the whole thing started, many others get in on the act, brewing a special lager with an almost winelike 7.5% alcohol content.

6. Small-town festivals throughout Bavaria

Just about every town and many villages in Bavaria hold their own beer bashes, usually under the banner volksfest (folk festival), dult (fair) or kirchweih (church fair). These celebrations combine traditional culture with the beer-brewing customs of the region in a way that can only happen here. Many take place in the autumn, which historically coincided with the harvest. You’ll find them from Weiden to the Alps, Bamberg to Rosenheim: check out this website for a full list.