Oktoberfest visitors slam eye-watering price of beer at world-famous festival
Oktoberfest is the world’s largest folk festival, celebrated for its famous beer event and traveling carnival.
The iconic event runs from mid-September to approximately the first Sunday in October and is known to attract more than six million people from around the world.
It did not take place in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid, but returned to the city of Munich in 2022.
This year, however, many revelers are passing it up because it has become so expensive, with one X user calling it an ‘alcoholic Disney land’.
A one-litre beer mug will reportedly cost you between €12.60 (£10.92) and €14.90 (£12.92), which is a 6% price increase on last year.
This year many revelers are missing it due to how expensive it has become, with one X user calling it an ‘alcoholic Disney land’
A one liter beer mug will cost you between €12.60 (£10.92) and €14.90 (£12.92), which is a 6% price increase on last year
a TikTok by Kathi Seidl shows everything she and her friends spent in one day at the folk festival.
The first thing they got was breakfast, which normally costs €19.90 per person, but the group got it for free because one of them works at Oktoberfest.
Kathi then drank a beer mug that would have cost €13.30 (£11.53), but again she got this for free, along with a shot.
The first thing she actually paid for was her second pint, which cost €14.80 including tip.
She then ate a steak sandwich, which set her back €7, and Lángos, a typical Hungarian delicacy, which cost €9.
After this, the group headed out for a ride at an amusement park called the ‘power tower’, which cost €10 (£8.67), before heading home in a taxi for €30 (£26).
In the end the cost of everything came to €118 (£102.31), but €41 (£35.53) of that was free, so she spent a total of €71 (£61.53).
German commentators were divided on whether the prices were reasonable or not.
She then ate a steak roll which set her back €7 (£6.07) and Lángos, a typical Hungarian delicacy which cost her €9 (£7.80).
After this, the group headed off for a ride at an amusement park called the ‘power tower’, which cost €10 (£8.67), before heading home in a taxi for €30 (£26).
One user wrote: ‘Was there in 2013 with 6 colleagues. I spent €1700 on a hotel stay.’
Another added: ‘It’s really extremely expensive’, while others claimed the prices are reasonable, writing ‘It’s little for what you got’ and ‘pretty good day’.
People from all over the world have used X (formerly known as Twitter) to join the debate.
An American user wrote: ‘Last year I was considering going just because I wanted to visit Germany, since I live in Europe now and it’s much closer than when I was in the States.
“But the research into it seemed so damn expensive it was like an alcoholic Disney world, haha.”
People from all over the world have used X (formerly known as Twitter) to join the debate
Another added: ‘Just ridiculously expensive and unaffordable for the common people! It’s not an Oktoberfest, it’s an Upper-Class-Fest.’
Someone else agreed, tweeting: “I’ve never been to Oktoberfest. I’ll probably never go there either. It’s too expensive for me.’
An Oktoberfest spokesperson said: ‘Drink prices are not set by the city of Munich.
However, as the organizer of the Oktoberfest, the city checks the prices quoted by restaurateurs to ensure that they are reasonable.
‘For this purpose, a comparison is made with the prices of large-scale catering establishments in the Munich city area.
‘These prices currently vary from €7.10 to €12.20 per liter of export beer.’
The festival confirmed that prices outside the Munich city area could reach €14.90.