Less hustle and bustle and more nostalgia: The Oide Wiesn as a popular addition to the Oktoberfest

Created: 05/20/2022, 09:24

By: Theresa Kuchler

The Oidn Wiesn is much quieter than the Oktoberfest.

What the nostalgic folk festival has to offer.

© Michael Westermann/imago

It was originally planned as a one-time event, but now it's impossible to imagine Munich Oktoberfest without it: the Oide Wiesn.

What the little nostalgia folk festival has to offer.

Munich - Historical fairground rides, three marquees and a cozy folk festival atmosphere: since 2010, the Oide Wiesn has complemented the Munich Oktoberfest.

Compared to the hustle and bustle on the Theresienwiese, the neighboring area is much more decelerated.

Exactly the right thing for families and festival visitors who want a quieter visit to the Wiesn.

The Oide Wiesn was originally planned as a one-time attraction - for the 200th anniversary of the Oktoberfest in Munich.

It should give the festival visitors a historical insight and show how the Oktoberfest was at the time it was created.

With nostalgic rides, a museum tent and cozy beer tents.

Because the Oide Wiesn was so well received by the festival visitors, it stayed - and became an integral part of the largest folk festival in the world.

The Oide Wiesn: A popular addition to the Oktoberfest

The Oide Wiesn does not take place every year.

It shares the area, the approximately 3.5 hectare area in the south of the Theresienwiese, with the Bavarian Central Agricultural Festival.

It therefore has to take a break every four years - the next time in 2024. When the Mayor of Munich, Dieter Reiter, opens the Munich Oktoberfest on September 17, 2022, the Oide Wiesn will start again in the next round after a long Corona break.

The Oktoberfest is freely accessible.

The situation is different at the Oidn Wiesn, where an entrance ticket has to be bought for the visit.

However, the prices are manageable (see list below).

You can enter the site from 10 a.m., the festival tents and fairground shops are open until 10.30 p.m.

The beer bar ends an hour earlier: at 9:30 p.m.

The prices at the Oidn Wiesn at a glance

• Entrance fee for adults: 3 euros.

• Free admission for children up to the age of 14 and severely disabled people from 50 percent with a valid severely disabled pass;

  Entry is also free for an accompanying person upon presentation of a severely handicapped ID card with visa B.

• Price for all rides: 1 euro.

Beer tent atmosphere, but cosy: the festival tents at the Oidn Wiesn

There are three marquees at the Oidn Wiesn, which invite less to escalative drinking than to a cozy get-together: the Tradition marquee, the Herzkasperl marquee and the Schützenlisl folk singer tent, which replaces the “Beauty Queen” from this year.

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The largest tent is the Tradition marquee, in which the host families Winklhofer and Wieser put on hearty brass music.

In addition to Bavarian delicacies, of course, the beer should not be missing: Augustiner Festbier is served - traditionally in a clay mug.

In the Herzkasperl festival tent, Josef "Beppi" Bachmaier wants to offer the young folk music scene a stage.

The concept is therefore a varied music program in which various bands, singers and other musicians play.

After all, the marquee sees itself as the "tent of the musicians".

Table reservations at the Oidn Wiesn

The museum tent of the Oidn Wiesn is not a classic beer tent, but there is still a bar.

As the name suggests, the focus here is on the history of the Oktoberfest.

With historical exhibits such as old tractors, a shooting gallery from 1905 or a carousel from 1946, visitors go on a journey through time.

There is also a changing music and children's program and a nostalgic sales trolley with sweet delicacies.

Because things are generally quieter at the Oidn Wiesn, festivalgoers often have better chances of finding a free table here.

Reservations are also easier to get than on the main Oktoberfest grounds, where most of the tables have been reserved for a long time.

You can read here how you can still get hold of one of the coveted tables.

In the museum tent at the Oidn Wiesn, you can go on a journey through time on historical rides.

© Ralph Peters/imago

Ride into the past: historic fairground rides at the Oidn Wiesn

Real folk festival classics such as the swing boat and the children's carousel are an integral part of the Oidn Wiesn.

But the range of nostalgic rides goes much further: Visitors can be transported into the folk festival atmosphere of bygone times with a ride in the "Kettenflieger Kalb" from 1919 or the "Fahrt ins Paradies".

There are also historical throwing and shooting galleries as well as the "Dicke Berta" where you can put your own muscular strength to the test.

Good to know: Thanks to its central location, the Oide Wiesn can be easily reached from anywhere.

For a journey by bus, train or car that is as stress-free as possible, it is advisable to plan well in advance - in order to protect your nerves and your wallet.

We have summarized all the important information on how to get to the Oktoberfest for you here.

Tip: Plan your arrival and accommodation early

Festival visitors who don't want to travel home late in the evening should look around for a place to stay overnight.

In Munich, most holiday accommodations are already sold out during the Oktoberfest.

There are cheap alternatives for that.