Visitors from different parts of the globe pour into key cities where Oktoberfest is held, guzzling barrels of beer, dancing to non-stop music and toasting to one of the oldest parties in the world

Cheers! Bottoms up! It’s Oktoberfest time again.

Around six million beer fans from around the globe flock to Munich’s 31-hectare Theresienweise Square from late September to early October of every year to sample brews, culture, entertainment and cuisine. For over 200 years now, people have been partying and consuming a total of about six million liters of beer—proving that this festival is indeed the world’s biggest beer-drinking festival.

Tracing its origin in the wedding reception of Crown Prince Ludwig I of Bavaria and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen in 1810, Oktoberfest today is a global phenomenon. We take a peek at these many Oktoberfests—from Brazil to India—to see how they serve parties, beers, and schnitzels as a way of saying “Gesundheit!” or “A toast to health and good times!” in their own language.

World’s biggest watering hole

Two of the world’s largest Oktoberfests are in Germany: Munich, with six million visitors, and Hannover, with one million. Germans may take Oktoberfest seriously and outsiders might see the festivities as German pop culture personified, but the festival is actually unique to Munich and Hannover, and not celebrated elsewhere in Germany or Bavaria.

During the opening ceremony, people line up very early morning and madly dash for tents as soon as a 12-gun salute signals the opening of the barrels. Entrance to the tents is free of charge, but “supersize” sausages and glasses of beer are sold for a minimal fee. Traditional oompah music is strictly played in the tents, and rock music and disco are banned until the dead of the night.

For the Bavarians, the celebration is called Bildunterschrift. It marks a time for them to don their traditional leather shorts or Lederhosen, with the addition of embroidered suspenders among males, and dirndls or pleated smocks and blouses with deep décolletage for women.

In Munich, locals call the festival “Wiesn,” after the festival’s location, Theresienweise. In 2005, elections in Germany were delayed because majority of the locals flocked to Munich’s Oktoberfest, which yearly showcases different attractions like a three-dimensional space museum, amusement parks, and cable-car rides. In Hannover, festivities are made unique by lantern parades, Friday night fireworks displays, and a splash of locally-baked candies and pastries.

Oktoberfest in the West

Outside Germany, the biggest Oktoberfest happens in the twin cities of Kitchener and Ontario, Canada, where the immigrant German tradition of Gemütlichkeit (Friendliness) is observed by the over 700,000 revelers of the seven-day Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest or “Canada’s Greatest Bavarian Festival.” The constantly flowing beer is complemented by German foods such as pretzels, schnitzels, sausages on buns, and cabbage rolls served in festhallens (tents).

The United States, the other North American nation, also has its own Oktoberfest activities since German-Americans compose the country’s single largest ethnicity. From the whole of Cincinnati in Ohio to a club somewhere in Delaware, Cincinnati’s Oktoberfest Zinzinnati attracts more than 500,000 visitors, lured by the festival’s Gemuetlichkeit Games or German-influenced contests like The Running of the Weiners and Beer Barrel Roll.

Oktoberfest celebrations in the US

In Europe, Ireland and the UK, especially London and Dublin, celebrate what is called Bierfests, a one to three-day showcase of Bavarian meals and drink-all-you-can beers served by dirndl-wearing waitresses. In Ireland and Australia, Oktoberfest events are tied to graduation so many of the celebrations, which feature a wide selection of imported German beer, center on bars around campuses.

Brazil too takes pride of its version of Oktoberfest, especially the one held in the town of Blumenau. Not only full of Germanic architecture, it also teems with dance, music, and food since 1984 because of its 18-day Oktoberfest that lures 700,000 to one million guests. Through the years, the Oktoberfest has also conquered Brazilian towns of Santa Catarina, Parana, Santa Cruz do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, and Igrejinha.

Latin America’s second-largest Oktoberfest is mounted in Argentina, followed by Chile and Colombia. In Mexico, Mexican handicraft markets are also set up while in Peru, alpenhorn trios, oompah music, and schuhplattler dancing rock the concert stages.

Flavors of Asia

In Asia, seemingly conservative nations come out of their shell and join the party. The largest Chinese Oktoberfest is held in Shanghai, where an elaborate menu of German and Asian fusion dishes are served in restaurants, and where a night in the three-day fête is exclusive for ladies. In Hong Kong, pork knuckles, sausages with apple strudel and sauerkraut, and other Southern German foods grace the menu, while in Qingdao, the Tsingtao Brewery is world-famous for its carnival-type parties and beer drinking camps.

Named Roctoberfest, Japan’s Oktoberfest is literally a two-day major punk and metal rock concert held in Okinawa’s sub-tropical beaches—a quirky mix of beer, beach, and bands. Bangalore in India, on the other hand, holds a three-day Oktoberfest in its many beer tents, alongside car shows, flea markets, and a blending of Bavarian and Indian cuisines.

Southeast and East Asia also join in the worldwide fun. More than 10,000 liters of beer and a metric ton of sausages are consumed annually in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City since the introduction of the local Oktoberfest in 1992. Street parties mark the Oktoberfests in Taiwan’s Taipei, Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur, and in the Philippines whose local pride San Miguel Beer kicks off various rock concerts in different cities.