Oktoberfest 2026 in Munich: dialect words and local knowledge

What is a Noagerl?

A Noagerl (Bavarian, also spelled Noagal) is the last flat, stale rest of beer in the Mass, and a Noagerlzuzler is someone who drinks up other people's Noagerl.

The Bavarian Wikipedia defines it as the last, stale rest in the beer mug and explains the sour tone: the dregs of beer and wine barrels are mostly cloudy. A dpa guide (16 September 2022) says the unappetising rest in the Mass divides the world into three kinds of drinkers: those who leave it, those who drink it, and those who pour it into the next beer.

More words you will hear:

• Die Maß: feminine, one litre, the mug and the measure.
• O'zapft is: the Lord Mayor's traditional call when the first beer runs from the 200 litre barrel, at 12:00 on Saturday 19 September 2026.
• Anbandeln: Bavarian for flirting, which the dpa says belongs to the Wiesn like Brezn, beer and brass music.
• Hirschen: Augustiner's hand-made oak barrels of about 200 litres; Keferloher: the stoneware mug in which the Festzelt Tradition on the Oide Wiesn serves it.

Is the Teufelsrad worth it?

Yes, and watching counts: Feldl's Teufelsrad, at the Oktoberfest since 1908 by the organiser's count (the city says around 1910), is a large disc that spins ever faster; at the presenter's call a group storms it, whoever stays on longest wins, and the crowd laughs at the presenters' Bavarian insults.

The calls are things like "All children aged between 8 and 14" or "All girls aged 18 and over in dirndls"; the best seats are in the middle. Karl Valentin and Liesl Karlstadt rode it. Rudolf Feldl took it over at the end of the 1940s; after his death in 1970 his wife Betty ran it until her death in 2002, and she is the face on the 2026 collector's mug. The presenters, Wiggerl Kugler and his colleagues, perfect the Schadenfreude in a charming Bavarian way, the organiser says.

Where: in the Schaustellerstraße, as usual, per the Munich press (22 July 2026); no official page prints the street, so use the organiser's site plan. Spectators pay a low admission, the organiser says; tip (blog, wiesnkini.de): 5 EUR for adults and 1 EUR for children.

What is the Italian weekend?

The Italian weekend (Italiener-Wochenende) is what the Munich police and the Munich press call the second, middle weekend of the festival, Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September 2026, when many guests from Italy traditionally arrive.

The name is not on the organiser's pages, but the Munich police used it in a release of 26 September 2025: on that weekend and on the last one, officers of the Polizia di Stato and the Carabinieri patrol together with the Bavarian police, and three officers from Bolzano work in the integrated control room.

Numbers from the Abendzeitung (28 September 2025): 67 percent of the 2024 visitors came from Munich and its surroundings, 10 percent from the rest of Bavaria and 19 percent from abroad, with Italy second among the foreign countries after the USA; t-online (28 September 2024) says thousands drive over the Brenner for it.

The organiser's barometer rates the middle weekend the busiest of the three: Saturday 26 September 2026 is busy in the morning and very busy from 15:00. Arrive early, or come on the weekdays around it.

What is the Oide Wiesn, and what is the Kleine Wiesn?

The Oide Wiesn is the fenced historic fair at the southern end of the Theresienwiese, 4 EUR admission from age 15 in 2026, with three beer tents, the Museumszelt and rides from 1919 at 1.50 EUR a go; the "Kleine Wiesn" is a nickname, most often for the Frühlingsfest in April and May, not a part of the Oktoberfest.

Oide Wiesn hours (organiser, 2026): from 12:00 on Saturday 19 September 2026, then 10:00 to 23:30 Monday to Thursday, to midnight on Friday and Saturday, to 23:30 on Sundays and on 3 October 2026; no charge up to age 14 and after 21:00 through the exits; tickets at the gate or from München Ticket. Inside: the Kettenflieger Kalb of 1919, the Fahrt ins Paradies of 1939, Augustiner from the wooden barrel in the Festzelt Tradition, barrel organ players, face painting and a clown for children.

"Kleine Wiesn": the organiser and the city never use it for the Oktoberfest, whose 21 smaller tents are simply the small tents. Munich media call the Frühlingsfest on the same meadow (17 April to 10 May 2026) the "kleine Wiesn" and the "little sister of the Wiesn". In September, ask which is meant.

When are the family days?

The two family days of 2026 are Tuesday 22 September 2026 and Tuesday 29 September 2026, from opening at 10:00 until 19:00, when numerous rides, showmen and snack bars have special prices for children and families.

The organiser's wording is "special prices for children and families" until 19:00; the city FAQ says "reduced prices" on Tuesdays until 19:00. How much lower, and at which rides, is not published on the official pages; rides are paid one by one at each ride's cash desk.

The same days pair well with the Familienplatzl on Straße 3 Ost (stroller garage, changing table, children's toilet, microwave, no steps) and with the Museumszelt programme on the Oide Wiesn, which children up to 14 enter at no charge. Strollers are allowed until 18:00 on weekdays and never on Saturdays or on 3 October 2026.

How do I get into a tent without a reservation?

Come on a weekday between 10:00 and 15:00, when the organiser's barometer rates every day quiet and a quarter of all tent seats cannot be reserved; on Saturday, Sunday and 3 October 2026 the organiser's reservations page keeps 40 percent of the seats unreserved until 15:00 and its FAQ says half, then a quarter either way, and the organiser says it is easier during the week, at lunchtime and at the Oide Wiesn.

Wednesday 23 September 2026 from 10:00 to 15:00 is the Mittagswiesn, the easiest walk-in slot. The middle weekend (26 and 27 September 2026) is the fullest: arrive before 15:00 or pick a weekday, and expect the main tent entrances to be closed during the reservation change around 16:00 to 18:00; the opening Saturday, the first Friday evening and 3 October 2026 are the other full days.

A full tent closes its doors for a while, and the organiser says queueing is not worth it; the city says there are generally enough places in the tents without a reservation. From the official pages:

• Beer gardens cannot be reserved at all.
• The Hofbräu-Festzelt has the only standing area in front of a stage, about 1,000 places.
• The three Saturdays, 19 September 2026, 26 September 2026 and 3 October 2026, are very busy from 15:00.
• Tip (press, dpa, 16 September 2022): chances are best at midday. Tip (blog, wiesnguide.com): when the main doors are shut, the side entrances to the beer gardens often stay open; move to another tent, or to one of the 21 small tents, which fill more slowly.

Four tents take cash only: Augustiner-Festhalle, Bräurosl, Löwenbräu-Festzelt and Ochsenbraterei. On opening day the tents open at 09:00, but beer flows only after the tapping at 12:00.

Is a table reservation worth it?

For an evening or a weekend, yes; for a weekday lunchtime, no, because entry to the grounds and the tents costs nothing and a quarter of every tent's seats stays unreserved.

Per the organiser, the reservation itself costs nothing and is made only with the tent, never with the festival: you buy a minimum consumption instead, usually two Mass of beer and half a roast chicken (Hendl) in the main aisles of the tent, and in the boxes and galleries an 18 EUR consumption voucher is added. The vouchers stay valid for the whole festival, and the tent must let you redeem or refund unused ones at least until 31 December of the festival year, 2026.

Most tents open their bookings by April or May, on their own websites. Tables can be reserved inside only; the beer gardens are walk-in. The city recommends reserving for evenings and weekends, and the Käfer Wiesn-Schänke admits only reserved guests in the evening. The organiser's reservation page links every tent's booking page.

What may I bring, and what not?

Bags up to 3 litres or 20 by 15 by 10 cm, checked and tagged by security staff at every entrance; no glass, no spray cans, no corrosive or colouring substances and nothing usable as a knife or weapon; strollers until 18:00 and never on Saturdays or 3 October 2026; about half the stands take cards, so carry some cash.

Official rules for 2026:

• Drinks may come onto the grounds, but not in glass bottles and not into the tents or beer gardens.
• Large luggage goes to the left-luggage points at entrances P1, P5, P8 and P10 for 5 EUR.
• No bicycles, scooters or skateboards on the grounds; no animals except assistance dogs.
• Nobody may stay on the grounds between 01:30 and 09:00.
• Use all entrances around the grounds, not only the main one.

Cash: ATMs of several banks stand at the entrances, with a withdrawal limit of 1,000 EUR; the Augustiner-Festhalle, the Bräurosl, the Löwenbräu-Festzelt and the Ochsenbraterei take cash only.

There is no dress rule: many guests wear Dirndl or Lederhosen, jeans are just as acceptable, and how the bow is tied says something (left single, right taken, back centre waitress or widow). Shops are closed on Sundays and on 3 October 2026.

From 2026 the festival's lost and found office is in the Deutsches Museum Verkehrszentrum, Am Bavariapark 5, daily 13:00 to 20:00.

Where are the toilets?

All 17 large tents have accessible toilets, every toilet on the grounds costs nothing to use, and six accessible public toilets stand around the grounds, the nearest to the main entrance by the Marstall tent.

The six accessible public toilets (organiser, 2026): at the Servicezentrum entrance, by the Marstall tent at the main entrance, behind the Bräurosl, at the Esperantoplatz entrance, in Straße C opposite exit OW 2 and behind the puppet theatre on the Oide Wiesn, plus a "toilet for all" at the corner of Straße D and Straße 6 by the disabled parking; all can be opened with the EURO key. Most small tents have an accessible toilet too.

For children: the Familienplatzl on Straße 3 Ost has a children's toilet and a changing table, and changing and nursing rooms are also in the Servicezentrum at the western end of Matthias-Pschorr-Straße, the building that also holds the police, the medical service and the Safe Space for girls and women.

What can I do during the day?

Weekdays from 10:00 to 15:00 are the quiet hours, so use them for the tents, then walk the grounds: the Bavaria statue is open until 20:00 during the festival, the Oide Wiesn has its barrel organ players from 10:00 to 18:00, and the Ferris wheel (up to 50 m, 40 gondolas, at the Oktoberfest since 1979) shows you the whole meadow.

A day plan from the official pages, all dates 2026:

• Tent brass starts at 11:00 on weekdays and at 10:00 on weekends, not on opening day.
• Sunday 27 September 2026, 11:00: the Wiesn-Platzkonzert, all the tent bands together under the Bavaria.
• Tuesdays 22 and 29 September 2026 until 19:00: the family days.
• Next door: the Deutsches Museum Verkehrszentrum, Am Bavariapark 5 (daily 09:00 to 17:00); in the old town, the Beer and Oktoberfest Museum, Sterneckerstraße 2 (Monday to Saturday 11:00 to 19:00).

The four walks with audio stories in the Roots Earth app, Munich section, during the festival, start at the Hauptbahnhof, the Max II monument, the Hofbräuhaus and the Löwenbräukeller and link the meadow to the places of the city; they are listed under the tents and experiences question above.

About Roots Earth

Roots Earth needs no account: open Munich in the app, pick a place and play; download Munich's audio, then it plays without a connection.

The stories are written by local people, and every one of Munich's 98 places has its audio story in all seven Roots Earth languages: English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian.

During the festival the program, the tents and experiences and the 25 places are in the Roots Earth app, Munich section, under Events and Activities for Germany; after Sunday 4 October 2026 that section switches off by design and the Munich audio stories stay.

Across the app, Roots Earth has audio stories for 5,665 places in 130 cities, 25 countries and 6 regions, as counted in the live catalogue on 12 September 2026: audio stories in English and German in every city, and in Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian in 126 of the 130 cities. Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection.

Everything on this page is in the Roots Earth app; more about Roots Earth, made by ROOTS SHPK, at rootsearth.com.