Oktoberfest, the world\u2019s greatest beer festival, is held annually in Munich and other cities around the world. Stretching from September to October, this salute to beer seems off-limits for kids at first glance. But this isn\u2019t touring wine country with the littles. It is, if done right, the coolest state fair and carnival and concert wrapped in to one. This is one family event where every single one of you can have fun.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s ironic that Oktoberfest has gotten such a raucous reputation given its origin as a celebration of the wedding between Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria and Crown Princess Therese von Saxony-Hildburghausen in 1810. The rowdiest event was a horse race to commemorate the marriage. No beer was served<\/a>. It wasn\u2019t until later that it established its ode to beer, drawing over six million people per year to Munich.<\/p>\n

Oktoberfest never abandoned its roots though and continues to provide entertainment for both kids and adults. We are coming upon the season now and the weather\u2019s cooling nicely for an outdoor weekend with the family. If you want to embrace the festivities, here are few tips to get the most out of Oktoberfest with kids:<\/p>\n

Go early<\/strong><\/h1>\n

There\u2019s only so much a person can drink before noon, which makes the earlier hours the most kid-friendly. Go early when most everyone is still within the legal limits of responsible adulthood. Weekdays are even better and less crowded if you can swing it.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Make it to the parade<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Most festivals kick off with a parade. There are men and women in traditional German dress and live music and horses pulling carts of barrels of beer with great ceremony. It\u2019s full of pomp and circumstance and good cheer like any hometown parade and makes a great attraction for kids.<\/p>\n

Let the kids dress up<\/strong><\/h1>\n

If they are going to see the grownups in dirndls and lederhosen in the parade and wandering the grounds, they might as well join the fun. Every kid loves a costume. It\u2019s also a good opportunity to give a lesson on culture and history. Why the apron over the skirt? Why the knee socks and shorts and feathers in hats?<\/p>\n

Venture outside the beer tents<\/strong><\/h1>\n

You know how they tell you to shop the perimeter of the grocery store for the healthiest meals? The same goes for the festival. Yes, the beer tents are where it\u2019s at for the main event, but outside you can find carnival games and pony rides and petting zoos and carousels and face-painting and all the other things kids love.<\/p>\n

Eat all the food<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Candy apples, schnitzel sandwiches, obatzda and brezn (cheese dip and pretzel), bratwurst\u2026let them try it all. This is fair food of another culture. Consider it a way to expand their palates.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Catch the live music<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Oompah music is the traditional German brass band that rocks the tuba among other instruments at Oktoberfest. Make sure to stop by one of the stages to catch them in all their glory and see if you can spot an alphorn or two on the side, the long horns that originated in the Alps.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re in the United States, here are a few of the top cities for Oktoberfest celebrations:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

http:\/\/www.travelchannel.com\/interests\/arts-and-culture\/articles\/oktoberfest-celebrations-in-the-us<\/a> and if you can\u2019t make it there, check your state for festivities: https:\/\/www.funtober.com\/oktoberfest\/us\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t skip Oktoberfest just because you think the kids won\u2019t have fun (or you won\u2019t with them along). Give it a try. You might find the one family event where nobody complains.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*Thinking out loud<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oktoberfest, the world\u2019s greatest beer festival, is held annually in Munich and other cities around the world. Stretching from September to October, this salute to beer seems off-limits for kids at first glance. But this isn\u2019t touring wine country with the littles. It is, if done right, the coolest state fair and carnival and concert wrapped in to one. This is one family event where every single one of you can have fun. It\u2019s ironic …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[21,23,26],"tags":[78,367,97,366,46,34,209,55,136,397,63,54,90,135],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mom-gene.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/breze-1642805_1920.jpg?fit=1920%2C1458&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8ca5p-Z1","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3783"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3783"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3783\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3789,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3783\/revisions\/3789"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mom-gene.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}