Every September, crowds gather in Munich’s Theresienwiese to celebrate Oktoberfest. The event is part pub crawl, part carnival and all Bavarian fun. It’s one of our favorite events to experience around the world — though I gather from my German exchange student friend that this might be a cringe thing admit.
We’ve had the pleasure of attending Oktoberfest in Munich several times. Each one has come at a different phase of our life, including our first Europe trip in our early 20s, in the middle of our backpack-around-the-world year, and most recently with our young child. Each trip has been different and taught us new lessons. Our most recent visit taught us about opening weekend. Specifically: Opening Sunday.
In this post, I’m going to recap my experience visiting Oktoberfest on the first Sunday of the festival. I’ll go over our specific timeline and recap the crowds I witnessed at different points of the day. We’ll start off with some general and planning details, then dive into the details of our visit, and wrap up with some helpful tips.
It’s important to note that this is the first Sunday, not opening day on Saturday. (Saturday is a whole different beast.) In my experience, there was a lot of discourse about Saturday, but I struggled to wrap my head around what to expect on opening Sunday. That is why I wrote this post. I hope you find it helpful.
Opening Weekend at Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest in Munich begins in mid-September and ends the first weekend of October. (It’s called Oktoberfest because in was originally entirely in October, but was lengthened and moved forward for better weather.) The festival spans three weekends, and opening weekend is always one of the most popular.
On the first Saturday, attendees start to gather at the wee hours of the morning and literally sprint to the beer halls when the gates open. There is an opening ceremony at the Schottenhamel tent and the first keg is officially tapped by the Lord Mayor of Munich to kick off the festival.
On the first Sunday, there is a costume parade through the streets of Munich that ends at the festival grounds. In recent years, it’s also been dubbed Gay Sunday, and the Pschorr-Bräurosl tent becomes a fabulous hub for the LBGTQ+ community and friends.
Visiting Oktoberfest on opening weekend can be a once-in-a-lifetime, core-memory experience, but it can also potentially be awful. With high crowds, high energy and high expectations, you’ll definitely want to plan ahead and be prepared to get the most out of your festival experience.
Our Trip Schedule
Historically, we have tried to avoid opening weekend at all cost. In fact, most of our visits have avoided any weekend entirely. But when your child’s school schedule has a few precious days off school that align with Oktoberfest at all, you take whatever you can get and make it happen.
This year, Rosh Hashanah fell on the Tuesday and Wednesday after the start of Oktoberfest. That meant that we could squeeze in a whole weekend trip to Munich and our child only had to miss one single day of school.
This was our schedule.
- Friday (overnight): Fly from NYC to Frankfurt. (We chose Frankfurt because we found great rewards availability for Business Class on Singapore Airlines.)
- Saturday: Short visit to Frankfurt. Train to Munich.
- Sunday: Oktoberfest
- Monday: Oktoberfest
- Tuesday: Oktoberfest in the morning. Train to Frankfurt.
- Wednesday: Daytime flight from Frankfurt to NYC.
For the sake of this post, we’re just going to focus on our Sunday visit. However, if you’re interested in family content, be sure to check out our Practical Guide to Oktoberfest With Kids.
Oktoberfest Reservations for Opening Weekend
There are 14 large and 21 small tents at Oktoberfest, which means there is room for a lot of people. Even still, there is often more people than there is space. During crowded times, tents can absolutely reach capacity. You might be wondering if you can and should make reservations.
Reservations at Oktoberfest are not like making a reservation at a local restaurant. Each of the tents handle reservations differently, but for all of them you have to book an entire table and pay in advance. What exactly you pay for and get varies. In most cases, you pre-purchase a specific menu or a set voucher/token for each person. You can check on current reservation options here.
Reservations are rarely a good deal, but they can take the stress off. Even if it makes sense for your party though, they can be hard to get. For some tents and times, reservations are not open to the public at all. On opening day specifically (Saturday), they are darn near impossible unless you know someone.
So when I saw availability on opening Sunday just a few months out (July), I was very tempted.
I did a ton of research on reservations. Of the five tents that had availability, reservations ranged from €400 – €700 for 6-9 people. We only had 5 people — 2 of which were vegetarian and one was a child who can barely finish a bowl of cereal and obviously would not be drinking. We could have booked a whole table, but we would have grossly over payed.
As much as I wanted a reservation, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. As it turned out, this was absolutely the right the call. We were able to arrive just a little bit early and had our pick of tents and tables. I would have be been so mad if I’d dropped an extra few hundred bucks on a reservation and then walked in to see empty, unreserved tables.
It’s also worth noting that by law, at least 25% (and up to 40% before 3PM) of tables must be left un-reserved. They may reach capacity, but none of the tents are ever reservation only.
Our Trip to Oktoberfest on Opening Sunday
Let’s get to the good stuff! In these next sections, I’ll share my personal experience at Oktoberfest on Opening Sunday.
For what it’s worth, our visit was in 2025. It was an absolutely beautiful day with warm, sunny weather. We were a party of 5, with 4 adults and 1 child.
Getting to Oktoberfest on Opening Sunday
The Oktoberfest festival grounds are called Theresienwiese, or “the Wiese.” It’s a large fairgrounds with multiple entrances. The main entrance is on the north side (roughly here), and the next most popular entrance is on the east side (roughly here.) The south and west entrances are allegedly less crowded, but I cannot independently confirm that.
We were staying at the Bayer 89 Vi Vadi Hotel, so it made sense for us to walk directly to the main entrance. We ate breakfast at the hotel at 7:30 AM (which was along the route from the main train station to the Wiese), and saw a handful of people pass by on their way there. It wasn’t enough to stress me out.
We left our hotel at 8 AM, picked up my parents at their nearby hotel at 8:15 AM, and joined the queue just after 8:30. When we arrived, the queue was pretty short and we were right about here. Our queue extended north from the entrance. There was another queue for the same entrance that extended west. That queue seemed longer and more crowded, but I couldn’t see the whole thing.
Our 8:30 AM arrival was pretty prefect. That seemed to be the time most people planned to arrive. The line grew quickly after that.
The gates to the grounds opened at 9 AM. Security staff at the entrance stopped the queues from both directions every so often, to keep the crowds for the bag check staff reasonable. After a brief pause, we were inside the Wiese at 9:07 AM.
Picking a Tent on Opening Sunday
When we arrived, it seemed like we had our choice of tents and tables. We didn’t go into all the different tents, but based on the size of the crowd and the capacity of the tents, it was pretty obvious that we’d have gotten a table anywhere.
It seemed liked most of the crowds were heading to the big brewery tents like Augustiner Festhalle, Hacker-Festzelt, Hofbräu-Festzelt, Löwenbräu-Festzelt or Paulaner Festzelt. There was also a crowded headed Pschorr-Bräurosl for Gay Sunday.
Note: Having not gone to Pschorr-Bräurosl, if you didn’t tell me it was Gay Sunday, I wouldn’t have noticed.
I had a few tents flagged that I wanted to go to. My biggest priorities were 1) finding a table for all of us 2) daytime live music and 3) vegetarian food. My top pics were:
- Marstall Festzelt: Known for their family vibes, but it only had music officially scheduled for the evening.
- Paulaner Festzelt: Music scheduled for the daytime, and it also had outdoor seating in case it was crowded.
- Hacker-Festzelt: Daytime music scheduled and outdoor seating, but known to be very popular and hit capacity early.
- Augustiner Festhalle: Reputation of being quieter, good for families, and specifically noted Bavarian music.
Honestly, when it came time to chose one, I panicked. I was so excited that I forgot to check my notes. I saw the Paulaner logo on the Armbrustschützenzelt tent (which is only there because it serves Paulaner beer) and thought it was the main Paulaner Festzelt and raced inside with my family.
Once I got inside, I realized it wasn’t a tent I was hoping for, but I also didn’t really care. I had a feeling that they were all going to be fun on opening Sunday and it wasn’t worth changing locations. I was right.
Armbrustschützenzelt translates to “crossbowmen’s tent.” It shows in the tent’s decor, and they actually host the crossbow championships here. It’s a traditional tent that appeals to locals — including local shooting groups.
In hindsight, I learned that it’s also a tent that welcomes seniors for a special visit each year. Maybe that’s why this tent wasn’t so crowded? I kid. As “lame” as it maybe sounds, it was actually very lively and a perfect place to be on opening day. 10/10 recommend!
Finding a Table on Opening Sunday
When we walked in, the unreserved sections were clearly marked with signs posted in each section. (We also verified with a server, or “Kellnerin,” just to be sure.) There were plenty of tables to choose from, so we picked an open one and sat down.
We had beers in hand by 9:23 AM. And that is how you start your day at Oktoberfest.
After we sat down, I made sure to keep an eye on open tables throughout the morning to see how quickly they filled up.
Below are some photos of the crowds at different times. Basically, there were open tables available at Armbrustschützenzelt until the band arrived after the parade at 11 AM. By noon, most of the tables were filled. Smaller parties could join up and fill in the empty space, but larger parties would have a harder time.
Food at Oktoberfest
Every large tent at Oktoberfest serves food, but the exact menus and service schedules vary. Some tents have a breakfast option, while others don’t serve food until lunch closer to midday.
The Armbrustschützenzelt menu was in German. Not to brag, but I took 4 years of high school German so I was able to piece an order together. There was also an English version online, or you can use something like the Google Translate app which has a camera translate feature.
In addition to the menu items, which you’ll order directly from your server, the tents also have Brezn-Buam und Brezn-Madl. These are roaming vendors with baskets filled with pretzels — and sometime other breads and pastries — for sale. These sellers are usually out from open to close, so you can always grab a snack if needed.
We ordered pretzels immediately and then ordered our lunch around 10:15 AM. Food service officially began at 10:30, but our server was taking orders in early. Since we started drinking liters of beer at 9 AM, ordering food ASAP seemed like the move.
I mentioned caring about vegetarian food and Armbrustschützenzelt delivered. Though to be honest, there was only one thing I needed to see on the menu: Rahmschwammerl. It’s a bread dumpling smothered in a mushroom cream sauce. It is my favorite German food and it so good! They also had a vegan goulash and Käsespätzle, so plenty of good options.
Food in the Oktoberfest tents is expensive and they only take cash. This dish cost €25.50. Be sure to come prepared with enough cash.
Live Music at Oktoberfest on Opening Sunday
As I mentioned, I cared about three things on our first day. Getting a table: check. Vegetarian food: check. That left us with live music.
I wanted to be sure I was at a tent with live music in the morning. This was hard to confirm because most tents don’t post their exact music schedules. I found several listing for specific bands, but that isn’t the only music they have.
In my experience, most tents have music by about 11 or 12 on both weekdays and weekends. The music isn’t constant, but they’ll play a few songs, take a short break, play a few songs — steadily throughout the day. It’s perfect.
At Armbrustschützenzelt on opening Sunday, the band arrived at 11 AM and took the stage around 11:30.
I breezed past this because we didn’t watch it, but there is a parade on opening Sunday. The bands from each tent march in the parade and then end at their respective tents. It was so much fun to be in the tent when the band arrived. They marched through the whole tent and then performed as a large group before a select few took to the stage.
Plenty of tents around Oktoberfest play modern music, but I much prefer the traditional music. The band at Platzl-Oktoberfestkapelle Armbrustschützenzelt offers a great balance of traditional music with a mix of “modern Wiesn hits” — which still translates to that typical Oktoberfest sound. It was exactly what I wanted.
Oktoberfest Carnival on Opening Sunday
On opening Sunday, we left the beer tent at about 12:30. That was enough time for two Maß Bier, lunch and some merriment. It was also enough time for our 5-year-old to tire of playing bunco with grandma and start to ask about going to the carnival.
The carnival/fair part of Oktoberfest is pretty much everything on the grounds outside of the beer tents. There’s games, rides, fun houses, food vendors, souvenir shops — basically everything except beer, which is only sold in the tents.
Our other job is writing about Walt Disney World, so of course we were wondering what the crowds and wait times would be like at the attractions on opening Sunday. They were actually very reasonable. Most children’s attractions — like bumper cars, swings, and carousel type rides — were walk-ons. Games and fun-houses had no waits either. Most of the bigger rides like coasters, the large ferris wheel, and the high-flying rides had waits of about 20 minutes.
It’s also worth noting that some of the bigger rides had posted height requirements. In our experience though, these were mostly self-enforced. Our child was not technically tall enough to ride one of the rides, but the attendant didn’t even measure them. We didn’t push this more than once, but I guess the main takeaway is make sure you are paying attention to those things and using your best judgement.
The last thing to know about the carnival rides and attractions is that they’re all individually operated. Each attraction has a ticket booth and you buy tickets or tokens for that specific attraction. There are no festival-wide tickets.
Also, the games will almost always get you some type of prize, which is not the case in the US. Our child played all sorts of games terribly, and always walked away with a small stuffy or trinket toy. They even won a bow and arrow at one, which we still play with every day.
What if you lose your phone at Oktoberfest?
I know, that’s totally ridiculous and would never happen.
Just kidding. I lost my phone basically immediately.
After leaving the beer tent, I rode the bumper cars with my kid. My sweet child has never ridden bumper cars before and never will again. They hated it and cried the entire time. I was frazzled getting off the ride — my child was crying, another kid was kindly apologizing for hitting us, and I was trying to find the rest of our family.
By the time I gathered myself, I realized I lost my phone at some point between my last beer and now. If this happens to you, here are a few things I learned.
The general flow of lost property is: someone finds it and (hopefully) turns it into the closest staff member, who holds it temporarily at their location and then ultimately deposits it at the festival-wide lost and found location.
The first place to check is the last place you saw it. Go back to your table, the last bathroom stall you used or the ride you rode. If it’s not still there, check with the nearby staff. This might be the bathroom attendant, server, beer tent office, or ride ticket booth. Finally, you can check the lost property office at the Theresienwiese Service Centre.
I personally checked my previous table, bathroom stall, and bathroom attendant before discovering that I’d also lost my family. After a brief cry, I finally thought to check with the ticket booth on the ride. I asked if anyone had turned in a phone. Sure enough, they had. It was right there the whole time.
Leaving Oktoberfest
We played games, rode rides, ate snacks and enjoyed the festival until about 4 PM. It was crowded, but not overwhelmingly so. You could comfortably walk around the grounds and there were short to no waits at most stands. It was an absolutely perfect day, too. The sun was shining and it was actually almost hot. Even on a perfect day on opening weekend, the Wiese didn’t feel too crowded.
This was outside of the beer tents though. We didn’t try to find a seat inside at this time, but I would imagine they were quite crowded at this point.
We got back to our hotel shortly after and then walked to Marienplatz for dinner. It was a perfect opening Sunday at Oktoberfest.
Tips for Visiting Oktoberfest on Opening Sunday
- Arrive 30-45 minutes early. It is not necessary to arrive an hour or more before the festival opens on Opening Sunday, but you don’t want to get stuck in long lines right when it opens either. This is the sweet spot to ensure you get a table but don’t spend too much time in line.
- You don’t need a morning reservation. As long as you arrive early (honestly within the first hour I’d say), you should have no trouble finding a table on opening Sunday morning. Only make a reservation if you want to be sure you have a table for the afternoon or evening.
- Sit in the right section. Things can be chaotic when you arrive, but make sure you sit in the right section. Double check with a server that you are not in a reserved section by mistake.
- Don’t change tents. Pick a tent in the morning and stay there. While you can definitely find a table at open, that isn’t true all day. The afternoons are much more crowded and often have more tables reserved.
- But don’t give up! If you do happen to arrive in the afternoon or want to go to another tent, you might find that there aren’t any tables or the tents are even closed for capacity. If this happens, give it an hour or two and try again. Try different tents (big and small), check the gardens, or ask a server if they can help you squeeze in. There is always turn over and with some patience, you will probably find something eventually.
- Tip. Though tipping is not broadly customary in Germany — at least not like the US — you still have a few people to tip at Oktoberfest. Tip your server €1-2 per beer and a few extra for food. If you buy snacks or souvenirs from the walking vendors, tip them an extra Euro. Lastly, try to tip the bathroom attendants a Euro each visit.
- Bring plenty of cash (Euro). Cash in king at Oktoberfest. The beer tents exclusively accept cash, and most of the food vendors and attractions around the festival do, too. Things are also expensive — budget €20 per round (beer + tip + bathroom visit) and at least €30 per meal. You must pay when you order and there are no tabs.
- Consider a Schwab debit card. This debit credit card has no foreign transaction fees, but most importantly refunds all ATM fees. With this card, you can get cash anytime at any ATM at Oktoberfest without any fees. This is not an affiliate link, but we have and love this card.
- Bring a game or activity. If you’re going to Oktoberfest at 9 AM on opening Sunday, it will take some time for things to heat up. Bring something to help you pass the time while you nurse your first beer. My mom made a bunco kit (three dice, a note pad and golf pencil in a baggie) and we had a blast.
- Dress up. I’ve been to Oktoberfest three times, but only dressed up once and dressing up was way more fun. Most people dress up and you’ll actually feel out of place if you don’t. Just be sure to avoid costumes. (This is most notable for lederhosen. They have to be leather.) You can rent attire in Munich, though the lines can be long. I’d recommend shopping second hand in advance. I got my drindl on eBay and it was perfect.
Closing Thoughts on Opening Sunday
I had always avoided opening weekend at Oktoberfest because I expected it to be unbearable. The reality is that is only half true. Actual Opening Day (Saturday) is still an extremely popular day and does require an extremely early arrival, but opening Sunday though is a completely different story.
The first Sunday of Oktoberfest was a great day to visit! We arrived only 30 minutes before it opened and easily found a table in the tent of our choice. Even with perfect weather, our afternoon at the carnival portion was as pleasant as could be.
I stressed a lot over how Opening Sunday would go, but it honestly could not have gone better. If you are planning to be at Oktoberfest on Opening Sunday, I hope this post helps you go into it less stressed than I was. If you follow in my footsteps, I suspect you’ll have an incredible time.
Prost!
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