Oktoberfest began in Munich in 1810 and has become a celebration of Bavarian food, beer and music. Long tables, shared meals and a lively atmosphere make it a theme that works just as well for a local celebration as for a festival tent.
If you are wondering how to organise an Oktoberfest event, start with the experience you want to create, then plan how people will book, arrive and order their first drink. From choosing your venue to keeping the bars moving, here are eight steps to help you prepare.
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1. Choose your format and date
A family afternoon in a beer garden needs a different plan from an evening of live music in a festival tent. Decide who you want to attract, how many people you can welcome and whether your event will run for one day or across several evenings.
September and early October are natural choices. Despite its name, Munich’s Oktoberfest takes place mainly in September. Check your local calendar before booking, particularly for competing festivals and major sporting fixtures.
If you are organising several dates, give each one a clear audience or programme. A company social, a Saturday party and a family session can share the same venue while offering different experiences.
2. Set your budget and find the right venue
Build your budget around a realistic attendance forecast. Include venue hire, furniture, entertainment, catering, staff, security, payment equipment and promotion. Keep a contingency for unexpected costs, and calculate how ticket income and food and drink sales will contribute to covering your expenses.
Look for a venue with room for communal tables, service routes and a separate space for music or dancing. A marquee can create a beer hall atmosphere, but you also need to account for power, shelter, toilets and ground conditions.
Think through the layout before confirming capacity. Can staff carry drinks between tables? Will the bar queue block an entrance? Can guests reach accessible facilities easily?
Check with your venue and local authority which permissions apply to your plans, including alcohol sales and entertainment. Agree who is responsible for obtaining them before you start selling tickets.
3. Create a Bavarian atmosphere
Blue and white bunting, wooden benches and warm lighting give you a recognisable Oktoberfest setting. Focus decorations around the entrance, tables and stage, where guests will spend most of their time. Keep menus and directional signs easy to read.
Invite guests to wear lederhosen or dirndls if they wish, and make it clear that dressing up is optional.
For music, consider a live brass or oompah band, followed by a DJ or a playlist as the evening builds. Plan set times around food service so the busiest part of dinner does not clash with your main performance. A Bavarian quiz or costume competition can also give guests something to join in with between sets.
4. Plan your Oktoberfest food and drinks
Choose a menu your catering team can serve consistently when a whole table orders at once. Oktoberfest food ideas include:
- Pretzels with mustard or a cheese dip
- Bratwurst with sauerkraut
- Roast chicken or pork knuckle for a seated meal
- Potato salad, vegetarian sausages and other meat-free options
- Apple strudel for dessert
Alongside German-style beers, offer alcohol-free beer, soft drinks and clearly signposted drinking water. Make dietary and allergen information easy to find.
Decide whether guests will order at the bar, receive table service or collect food separately. That choice determines how you position staff and payment terminals. If you use reusable cups or steins, explain any deposit and return arrangements before guests order.
5. Set up ticketing and promote your party
Make the booking page answer the questions guests will have before they commit: which date are they booking, is seating included, and does the price cover entry only or a meal as well?
With WeezTicket, our online ticketing solution, you can create different ticket types, set quotas and monitor sales as bookings come in.
If your Oktoberfest runs over several days, session ticketing lets guests choose their preferred date or time slot from the same booking page. Set a separate capacity for each session and track bookings by date, keeping all your evenings organised within one event. This helps you manage availability and focus your promotion on the sessions that still have places to fill.
Publish your ticket shop on your own website or use a dedicated event mini-site. Advance bookings give you a clearer basis for ordering food, scheduling staff and planning seating, while sales reporting helps you follow demand as the event approaches.
Even if entry is free, asking guests to book a free ticket gives you a useful indication of attendance. Keep the form short and ask only for information you need.
Promote the party through local businesses, performers and your own channels, with every post leading to the same booking page. Show the band, the menu and the atmosphere people can expect. Before the event, send practical information about transport, entry times and payment methods. With the appropriate marketing consent, your booking data also helps you invite guests back next year.
6. Organise arrivals and access control
Groups often arrive together, particularly when they have booked a table. Set up a clear entrance and a separate point for ticket queries so one booking issue does not hold up the queue.
WeezAccess, our access control solution, lets your team check tickets and validate the access rights you have configured. A ticket for Friday should admit its holder to Friday’s session, and your team should be able to spot a ticket that has already been used.
For a smaller event, the free WeezAccess app turns a smartphone into a ticket scanner. For busier entrances or more demanding operations, WeezAccess Pro provides dedicated scanning devices.
The benefits are practical: quicker checks, less manual work and a record of who has arrived. If guests can leave and return, define your re-entry policy and configure entry and exit checks accordingly. This makes attendance tracking more useful throughout the evening.
7. Keep service moving with cashless payments
At an Oktoberfest event, a table can order several drinks at once, while another group arrives at the bar. Brief your team on how orders, payments and collection will work together before doors open.
WeezPay, our cashless payment solution, supports payments using NFC cards or wristbands. Guests add credit and pay by tapping their card or wristband on a terminal. This reduces cash handling at the bar and helps staff process payments quickly.
Depending on your setup, you can also offer open-loop payments, where guests pay directly with a bank card or mobile wallet. A hybrid setup combines these with closed-loop payments, where guests spend credit loaded onto an event card or wristband.
For you, the benefit goes beyond taking payments. Sales reporting shows revenue by sales point, helping you see where demand is concentrated and adjust your operation. Afterwards, the records make it easier to review sales across different evenings.
Explain accepted payment methods before the event. If you use prepaid cards, tell guests where to collect and top them up, and how any remaining balance can be refunded.
Cashless in practice at Frankfurter Oktoberfest
At Frankfurter Oktoberfest in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, Weezevent supported cashless payments across several evenings. The deployment combined open-loop and closed-loop payments, using NFC cards, approximately 60 mobile terminals and two Epson printers for bar service tickets.
Guests could pay with a tap of their NFC card, while printed service tickets gave bar staff a physical record to work from. It is a practical example of adapting payment technology to a local Oktoberfest and the way its teams serve guests.
For your own event, size the setup around the number of sales points, your service model and expected peak demand. The right number of terminals depends on how orders are taken and served, as well as how many people attend.
8. Brief your team and review each evening
Walk through the event with your team before opening. Test a ticket scan, a payment and any service-ticket printing. Make sure everyone knows who handles booking queries, payment issues and guest requests.
If your Oktoberfest runs across several evenings, review the first night before opening again. Compare bookings with arrivals, look at sales by bar and ask staff where queues formed. Use that information to adjust staffing, signage or service positions for the next session.
After the final evening, gather feedback and compare your actual costs and revenue with the budget. Keep those findings for your next edition.
Planning your Oktoberfest party? Weezevent helps you sell tickets with WeezTicket, manage entry with WeezAccess and take cashless payments with WeezPay.
