The first Oktoberfest took place on Oct. 12, 1810, a celebration of the marriage in Munich of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. It included much food and drink and ended with a series of horse races.

The fall festival became an annual event and today, the Munich Oktoberfest, which culminates on October 3, is the largest public festival in the world. More than 6 million visitors converge on the city over the 17-day celebration, consuming 5 million liters of beer and more than 200,000 pairs of pork sausages. Other cities around the world have adopted the holiday to celebrate their German heritage.

In North America, the Milwaukee Oktoberfest celebrates its 151th anniversary this year, attracting about 100,000 visitors to enjoy German brass bands, folk dancing, singing, yodeling, and traditional German food and drink. Cincinnati’s annual Oktoberfest, now in its 30th year, spreads across five city blocks, offering more than 500,000 visitors live entertainment and booths serving German food, beer, and wine. The biggest Oktoberfest outside of Germany belongs to Kitchener Waterloo, Ontario, where 700,000 visitors attend events including a fashion show, parade, beauty pageant, relay races, arts exhibition, sports competitions, beer and wine tasting, and a costumed archery contest.

A little closer to home this weekend is the Crossville Oktoberfest.

Crossville Oktoberfest Visit the website for information

The Crossville Knights of Columbus have been sponsoring the Crossville Oktoberfest since 1991.   This year will be the 20th year for the festival. The festival will be held October 8th and 9th.