Oktoberfest is the biggest beer festival in the world, with millions converging on the city of Munich every year, but there is so much more to this festival than one celebration in one city. Dozens of countries and countless companies get involved with the festivities, making September/October a great time for anyone who gets a kick out of traditional German attire, cuisine and beer.
In this guide we’ll look at Oktoberfest around the world to showcase the best celebrations from Sao Paulo to Shanghai.
The Oktoberfest Lottery
One of the more unique additions to the Oktoberfest calendar is the Oktoberfest Lottery. This is a MultiLotto lottery that is available online and offers a regular jackpot of £900,000 and a boosted jackpot of nearly £700 million!
Oktoberfest follows the format of the BonoLoto, a popular Spanish lottery. Players choose the same amount of numbers and then the BonoLoto draw will separate the winners from the losers. This draw takes place 6 days a week (once a day except for Sunday), giving everyone a chance of winning big during the Oktoberfest celebrations.
To bet on the Oktoberfest Lottery, you just need a MultiLotto account and these are available to players from most countries around the world.
Australia Oktoberfest Celebrations
The Aussies love to party and for a time they were one of the biggest supporters of the Oktoberfest. There were regular Oktoberfest parties held at Australian universities, and as the students graduated they took their tradition with them, causing these parties to spread to pubs and clubs.
There was a big shift in 2012 when universities banned Oktoberfest celebrations, but that merely inspired private companies to launch their own versions. This includes “Oktoberfest in the Gardens”, which was first staged at the Supreme Court Gardens in Perth but has since expanded to a number of other Australian cities.
It is the largest Oktoberfest celebration in the country, but it’s far from the only one. The city of Canberra once hosted one of the longest-running celebrations at the Harmonie German Club, but in 2017, after 44 years of successful events, it became too big for this relatively small club and was moved to the city of Queanbeyan, which is located some 10 miles away from the capital.
South American Oktoberfest Celebrations
Brazil is big on Oktoberfest celebrations and no list of Oktoberfest around the world would be complete without them. There are celebrations in every major region. The Oktoberfest of Blumenau is one of the biggest of these, attracting as many as 1 million people, but there are also celebrations in Rolândia, Santa Cruz do Sul, Ponta Grossa, and a great deal more.
It’s not just Brazil either. There is a major beer festival in Córdoba, Argentina that has been running since 1963 and was created by German immigrants. It attracts thousands of revellers over the course of two consecutive weekends and is the biggest of its type in the country.
There are also German-style beer festivals throughout Chile and Colombia, with the latter sponsored by Bavaria Brewery, an immigrant-founded brewery that is a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch.
As well as the Oktoberfest, Brazilians also love playing the lotto. Mega Sena is the biggest lottery not only in Brazil but in South America. Play Mega Sena here at Multilotto along with other great global lotteries like the US Powerball, Mega Millions, Eurojackpot, and SuperEnaLotto
US Oktoberfest Celebrations
There are a huge number of Americans with German roots, and many trace their ancestry back to Bavaria itself. It’s no surprise, therefore, that the USA is one of the biggest non-German participants in the Oktoberfest.
The biggest celebration is held in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio. Known as “Oktoberfest Zinzinnati”, this was first held in 1976 and it attracts around half a million visitors every single year. It spans 6 blocks of Downtown Cincinnati and incorporates Bavarian food, beer, dancing, and more. They also hold the record for the world’s largest Chicken Dance, which was performed by 48,000 visitors during the 1994 staging of this event.
Other big cities that host their own version of Oktoberfest include:
- San Diego
- Denver
- Miami
- Nashville
- Indianapolis
- St. Louis
- Tulsa
And that’s only scratching the surface as there are dozens upon dozens of Oktoberfest celebrations covering many small towns and big cities. Countless Americans have a visit to the original Oktoberfest on their Bucket List, but in setting their sights on Munich they often overlook what is right on their doorstep.
China Oktoberfest Celebrations
China is probably the last country you would expect to host an Oktoberfest celebration. Many countries can either claim some kind of German ancestry or have large immigrant populations, but China is not really one of them.
However, they have embraced lots of popular western cultures over the years and Oktoberfest is one of them. There is an Oktoberfest celebration at a popular Hong Kong hotel that attracts over 1,500 people; there is one at the MGM in Macau; and there are also ones hosted by the Paulaner Bauhaus in both Beijing and Shanghai. These have actually been running since 1993 and 1997 respectively.
Russia Oktoberfest Celebrations
Finally, there is Moscow Oktoberfest. This is held in the Red Square and instead of taking place in tents it occurs inside participating bars and pubs, with special offers, live music, entertainment and more on offer, all of which has a uniquely Bavarian flavour.
Russians are well known for their love of vodka, and on a list of the biggest beer drinking countries they are way down in 32nd place, some 28 places behind Germany, but everyone in the capital turns into a beer lover when Oktoberfest rolls around. The vodka is set to one side, the German beer and food comes out, and everyone is converted for a few days.
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