Oktoberfest Tickets & Reservations

Oktoberfest tickets (and by that we really mean beer tent reservations) can only be purchased directly from the individual beer tents themselves and can be extremely difficult to get. Again, if you plan to make reservations, ONLY purchase beer tent tickets directly from the tents. Never buy them via some “online ticket reseller” or eBay or out of the back of someone’s minivan, for instance.

It is illegal to purchase beer tent tickets through a third party and, besides, those situations are likely a scam where you’ll end up with no Oktoberfest reservations but a whole lotta debt and regret. (Come on, nothing good ever came out of the back of someone’s minivan, right?)

Join the Oktoberfest Travel Facebook group for tips and info on how to get Oktoberfest reservations. ⇣⇣⇣

If Oktoberfest tickets / reservations are in your future, you’ll want to arrange them as soon as possible. Like, yesterday. Put down the Rubik’s Cube and get to work–you’re never going to solve that thing anyway.

Each tent makes their reservations available to the public at their own discretion. Some in March, some in April, some even as early as December. (#germanefficiency) Some of the most popular tents will book up in just a couple of days, and reservations for weekends tend to be booked years in advance as it is.

Feeling discouraged? We have Oktoberfest tours & packages that include beer tent reservations here. Read on for more information on acquiring beer tent tickets. ⇣⇣⇣

What You Need to Know About Oktoberfest Tickets & Reservations

First of all, you do not need beer tent reservations to attend the Munich Oktoberfest.

However, with 6 million+ thirsty people visiting each year and only enough spots for 10,000 butts at a time, the seats in each beer tent quickly become a hot commodity. But how do you make sure your rear gets a beer? Here’s everything you need to know on acquiring your Oktoberfest reservations.

Get yourself Oktoberfest tickets and you’ll be raising beers in the beer tents.

Do You Need Oktoberfest Tickets?

So, do you really need Oktoberfest reservations? Well, the answer to that depends on a few factors:

WHEN DO YOU PLAN ON ATTENDING OKTOBERFEST?

Certain times of the day and certain dates of the festival are busier than others resulting in it being harder for you to get a seat (a prerequisite for getting a beer).

➤ Are you planning to attend first thing in the morning? You’ll be fine without Oktoberfest tickets.
➤ Attending early on a weekday? No sweat.
➤ Hoping to party at night? Don’t hold your breath.
➤ Looking forward to experiencing Oktoberfest opening weekend or closing night? Fuggedaboutit.

Oktoberfest reservations aren’t necessarily needed for early mornings and weekdays when attendance is at its lowest (which isn’t really ‘low’ at all); but experiencing late night party time or the opening and closing ceremonies can really only be done with beer tent reservations and/or friends in high places.

You won’t need beer tent tickets early in the morning during the week. Photo: Ashley Smith | My Wanderlusty Life

HOW BIG IS THE SIZE OF YOUR GROUP?

Solo travellers and groups of two, three, or even four shouldn’t have a problem finding seats in a beer tent without a reservation. By law, Oktoberfest beer tents must set aside a hefty chunk of their seating for walk-ins, reservation-free, and the smaller your party, the easier it will be to claim your own butt zone.

Larger groups wishing to sit together will have a much tougher (i.e. damn near impossible) time finding a table to call their own. In this case, Oktoberfest reservations are downright mandatory.

WHAT IS YOUR TRAVEL STYLE?

If you’re the kind of traveller who doesn’t know if he/she is even going to Oktoberfest yet (it literally doesn’t matter what day of the year you’re reading this), then it doesn’t look like Oktoberfest reservations are in the cards for you. If you’re into winging it internationally, then beer tent tickets are probably the least of your worries.

On the other hand, if you’re a hardcore planner, Oktoberfest tickets may be just the thing to settle your travel worries. With reservations, finding a seat at the world’s largest beer and pretz’ fest is just one less thing to stress about and may make planning the rest of your trip so much more fun.

Photo: Ashley Smith | My Wanderlusty Life

How do you get Oktoberfest reservations?

There are only two legitimate ways to get Oktoberfest beer tent tickets.

FROM THE SOURCE

The #1 way to get Oktoberfest reservations (and some will tell you it’s the only way) is from the tent owners themselves. Each tent uses its own methods to obtain Oktoberfest tickets and their rules must be followed to the letter. Some still require fax and snail mail requests while others have finally joined the rest of us here in the 21^st century and provide online reservation forms. To acquire Oktoberfest reservations:

1 – Decide which Oktoberfest beer tent you wish to join.
2 – Find their reservation request page (see below for direct links to each beer tent’s reservation page).
3 – Follow their instructions, no matter how ridiculous.

JOIN A TOUR GROUP

Should it be that the time to acquire Oktoberfest tickets has passed or, hell, you just don’t want to deal with it in the first place, there’s a tour group for that! All of our Oktoberfest tours include beer tent reservations so you can spend less time sending international faxes (does anyone still know how to do that anyway?) and more time getting your stein-chugging record down to under a minute. You can do eet!

Reservations at the 14 big beer tents

To reserve your spots directly with the beer tents, see below for their designated reservations page. Don’t know which beer tent to choose? Read about each of them here.

There are 14 big beer tents at Oktoberfest in Munich

What are the requirements for obtaining Oktoberfest tickets?

If only acquiring Oktoberfest tickets was as easy as filling out a form, stuffing it into an envelope, writing out the full German address, driving to the post office, paying for international postage, and waiting six weeks to see if your letter actually made it—right? Instead, there are a few extra things you should know about acquiring Oktoberfest reservations.

WHEN TO PLAN FOR OKTOBERFEST RESERVATIONS

Yesterday. No, scratch that—months ago. Each individual beer tent begins their process of assigning Oktoberfest tickets at different times of the year because they be the boss and they do what they want. Even if that means making you pick up a dusty ol’ fax machine at an elderly couple’s garage sale.

Some begin taking reservations as early as the previous year’s Oktoberfest (no rest for the beer-y). Some start in January, some in March, April, and May. Others, like Augustiner, are so damn popular they’re automatically full every year so you can forget about them and just hope that one day you’ll get to sit at the cool kids lunch table. The tents’ pages on reservation requirements will explicitly say when they start taking reservations.

IS THERE A MINIMUM REQUIREMENT?

Yes, there is. Oktoberfest reservations are strictly for tables only, not people. No one can reserve just seats at Oktoberfest. Instead, an entire 8- or 10-person table must be reserved. You know what that means, right? Lock up your lagers: the whole crew is coming to town!

But what if you have less than 8 or 10 friends? (no judgment) If you have fewer people in your group you can still make Oktoberfest reservations – you just have to pay for the equivalent of a whole table.

IS THERE A COST FOR ACQUIRING BEER TENT TICKETS?

The answer again is no. But also yes. (Isn’t this fun?)

Oktoberfest reservations themselves are free, but to reserve a table you must purchase food and drink vouchers for each of the “10” people attending. These vouchers typically include 2 litres of beer + 1 wiesnhendl (half chicken) per person, but each tent has its own requirements/kickass Oktoberfest food. Because, if you’re doing Oktoberfest right, 2 litres of beer and a meal will absolutely be consumed, making your Oktoberfest reservations “free” in the long run.

Beer tents pack out by evening and all day on weekends.

Oktoberfest Tickets – Things to Know

➤ Oktoberfest reservations can only be made for tables inside the beer tents. No beer garden tables are reserve-able. They like to leave those open for the amateurs who slept in.

➤ Oktoberfest reservations are only valid for certain parts of the day—time blocks of typically four hours each—not for the entire day. Unless you want to reserve all the time blocks because holy cow your ambition is on point.

➤ You must be on time for your Oktoberfest reservations. Otherwise you risk losing your table altogether. And when we say “on time” we really mean “at least 15 minutes early”.

➤ Reselling your Oktoberfest tickets is strictly forbidden. Don’t try to auction off your Oktoberfest table to the highest bidder. They will find out; you will be in trouble. And definitely never, ever try to buy beer tent tickets via an online reseller or other 3rd party website. Both sides of this are illegal and just plain stupid.

Don’t want the hassle of making beer tent reservations yourself?
Join one of our Oktoberfest tours and let us sort it all for you.

The 14 major beer tents

There are 14 big and 21 small tents at Oktoberfest. Entrance to the festival and all tents is always FREE and you do not have to purchase any kind of admission. Don’t be fooled by just anyone with a minivan.

Full descriptions of the beer tents and contact information can be found on our individual beer tent pages. ⇣⇣⇣