You almost feel sorry for the innkeepers of the Munich Oktoberfest. First they weren’t allowed to go to the festival grounds for two years because of the pandemic, then there were debates as to whether they were even allowed to celebrate so merrily because of the war in Ukraine and the risk of Covid infection. When the Oktoberfest finally took place on the world stage again last year, arguments about wokeness, meat consumption and animal cruelty as well as sexist paintings on the rides followed.
And now? This also results in increased energy costs. The festival beer will cost a good six percent more this year, namely between 12.60 euros and 14.90 euros. If you want to buy half an organic chicken for 20.50 euros, you are making a medium investment.
An overview from the Department of Labor and Economy showed that in many tents, 14.50 euros are charged for a mass. Last year the range was between 12.60 euros and 13.80 euros. The Association of Munich Oktoberfest Innkeepers cites several factors for this price increase. In addition to inflation and energy costs, there are higher personnel costs. Spokesman Peter Inselkammer says: “The employees have to earn more in order to be able to cope with their increased living costs.” Everyone in the festival tent is affected: from the wait staff, the cooks, to the security staff and the craftsmen.
Because of the higher wage agreements in the construction industry, setting up the Oktoberfest tents will also be more expensive, adds co-spokesman Christian Schottenhamel. The prices for building materials are also more expensive than ever before. And then there’s the brewing – an energy-intensive undertaking, which is why the beer becomes significantly more expensive before it even arrives at the Oktoberfest.
Pressure from all sides on the innkeepers. On Thursday, city hall politicians, showmen, brewery representatives, farmers and ecological initiatives met in the town hall for a non-public round table on the topic of large-scale sustainable events. “An expansion of the organic offering at the Oktoberfest has a signaling effect and supports the expansion of organic farming,” emphasized Thomas Lang from the Faire Wiesn initiative in advance.
The Association of Oktoberfest Innkeepers wants to anticipate these demands. Inselkammer announces: “All tents should become climate neutral within the next five years. If possible, even by 2026.” How is that supposed to work? Each host determines the tent’s CO₂ consumption. Then it’s time to reduce and finance projects that bind carbon dioxide. “For example, through reforestation in the region around Munich. In the next few years, our own Oktoberfest forest will even be created,” says Schottenhamel.
Another goal: have at least one vegan dish per tent on the menu and expand the vegetarian offering. Vegetarian and vegan dishes are currently available in 13 large festival tents. The frontrunner here is the Käfer-Wiesnschänke, followed by the Festhalle Schottenhamel and Kufflers Weinzelt. Pure organic dishes and drinks are currently only available in seven tents.
Here too, the Wiesn Association got the word out and announced a “Hendl revolution in the Paulaner festival tent”. It looks like this: Landlady Arabella Schörghuber will only offer chicken in organic quality. “This is an experiment, if our guests don’t accept it, we may have to rethink it next year,” she says. Their festival tent is now the first large one to focus exclusively on organic chicken, although the other dishes initially continue to come from conventional sources. Half an organic chicken will cost 20.50 euros. A conventional one in another of the 17 large and 21 small marquees is expected to cost 14 to 15 euros.
By the way, there is still a small problem with the organic chickens, revealed Wiesn landlady Silja Steinberg: Because organic chickens are larger than animals from non-organic farming, they don’t fit so well on the normal grill grates. They are sizzled too much on the outside, so they have to be pre-sorted according to size. Solutions are being sought.