O'zapft is - Oktoberfest Tapping Ceremony

At noon on Saturday, September 19, 2026, Munich's Lord Mayor Dominik Krause stepped into the tapping box at the Festhalle Schottenhamel tent and drove the ceremonial tap into the first keg of Spatenbräu. It was his debut performance in the role — he took office on May 1, 2026 as the first Green Lord Mayor in Munich's history — and he needed just two hammer strikes before the beer flowed, matching the all-time record for fewest strikes previously held by former mayors Christian Ude and Dieter Reiter. He called out "O'zapft is! Auf eine friedliche Wiesn!," handed the first Maß to Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder, and twelve cannon shots fired at the Bavaria statue above the festival grounds — the historic signal, once practical and now purely ceremonial, that released every other tent on the Theresienwiese to start pouring. The moment officially opened the 191st Oktoberfest, a count that holds up under scrutiny: 217 calendar years since the festival's 1810 founding, minus the 26 years it was cancelled or scaled down for war, cholera, hyperinflation, or pandemic.

It's worth knowing that this civic ritual is younger than it feels. Oktoberfest itself dates to 1810, but the mayor-performed tapping ceremony only began on September 16, 1950, under Lord Mayor Thomas Wimmer, who needed a famously clumsy 17 strikes — still the worst on record. Popular retellings often describe that first tap as spontaneous, the story going that Wimmer missed his official carriage nearby and was swept into tapping the keg on a whim after Schottenhamel's operators invited him in. Newspaper clippings and photographs from the time tell a more grounded story: the moment was planned in advance between Wimmer and the tent's operators, not an unscripted accident. It's a small but telling reminder that even a tradition this photographed and this famous has folklore worth double-checking against the record.

For visitors, the tapping ceremony is something to witness rather than casually attend. A table inside Schottenhamel is free but genuinely hard to get — arriving hours early, or even the evening before, is standard for anyone determined to see the mayor tap the keg in person. A more relaxed option is to claim a spot near the Bavaria statue for the twelve cannon shots, or watch the free live broadcast and dive into a less crowded tent once the signal sounds; either way, no beer anywhere on the grounds is served until the tap succeeds. Pair the moment with the classic opening-day lunch — half a roast chicken or Schweinshaxe alongside that first Maß of Festbier — and expect the crowd, and the wait for your own first pour, to be part of the experience. Explore Upper Bavaria, see the costume and riflemen's parade, or the grand entry of the Oktoberfest landlords.