Drastic price increase for drinks at Oktoberfest

(Patria) - The price of beer at the German Oktoberfest will increase by an average of 3.9 percent and will exceed the 15 euro ($16) mark for the first time, the city of Munich announced yesterday.

A one-liter glass of beer at the festival in the Bavarian capital will cost between 13.60 and 15.30 euros this year. Last year, the price range for a liter of festival beer was between 12.60 and 14.90 euros.

As the organizer of Oktoberfest, the City checks whether the prices calculated by the brewery owners are reasonable.

To do this, it compares them with the prices of large catering establishments in Munich. A liter of export beer currently costs between 7.70 and 12.80 euros.

However, Oktoberfest beer has additional costs. It is brewed specifically for the festival and is particularly strong with an alcohol content of around 6%.

In addition, owners must erect and dismantle tents for the two-week festival, and there is live music.

Beer prices at the festival site have roughly doubled since 2004: 20 years ago, a liter of beer cost between 6.70 and 7.10 euros.

Non-alcoholic drinks will also be more expensive at Oktoberfest this year: a liter of table water will cost an average of 10.48 euros, up from 10.04 euros in 2023, Spezi beer 12.23 euros, up from 11.65 euros in 2023, and lemonade 11.67 euros, compared to 11.17 euros in 2023.

The good news is that if you want to save money and quench your thirst for free, you can help yourself at the drinking water fountains. There are 10 of them this year, twice as many as last year.

Construction of the large festival tents began on Monday for the festival, which starts on September 21 and is expected to attract six million visitors by October 6.

Last year, 7.2 million guests participated in the beer festival with fantastic weather. They drank 6.5 million liters of beer. The amount of meat consumed was not disclosed.