Tips for celebrating an unforgettable Oktoberfest

After living in fear of going out for so long and having to postpone events, it’s time to carry on and celebrate life, responsibly and in moderation. And, talking about celebrations, come September the first thing on our mind is Oktoberfest, a German festival that has spread from Europe to bars, festivals, restaurants, and businesses across the world.

What is Oktoberfest?

Oktoberfest is a festival originating in Bavaria, Germany, which is held between the months of September and October. The very first Oktoberfest dates back to October 12, 1810, when Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen married Crown Prince Ludwig. She gives her name to the ground where the event is held, “Theresienwiese”. All the residents of the city of Munich were invited to witness the royal event. Over the years, the festival was maintained, although there were many interruptions due to wars, crises, and epidemics. Nevertheless, a reason was always found to continue with the festival, which is now a yearly event in German culture with German symbols, food, beer, and music.

The celebration has become so popular that countries across the world have embraced it as their own, marking it down in red in the calendar of events to be celebrated between September 17 and October 3. It is especially interesting if you have a business such as a bar or a restaurant or if you want to organize an event in which beer, music, good atmosphere, and fun take center stage.

How to boost your business celebrating Oktoberfest

We know that a large part of the population can’t wait to get out on the street to celebrate, so it’s a good idea to give them a reason to do so. And at this time of year, celebrating Oktoberfest is a sure bet. Therefore, once you decide to boost your business by celebrating Oktoberfest, you have to let people know and advertise the event. Because, even if you organize a fantastic event, if people don’t know about it if you don’t reach people through your advertising, your possibilities of success will be slim. At Freepik, we’re committed to helping you, so read this post, grab a pen and paper, and get ready to download all the resources on offer.

Flyers and posters to advertise Oktoberfest

The first step to take is to let people know what you’re going to do and where and when you’re going to do it. And, as a picture is worth more than a thousand words, we suggest that you prepare a poster advertising your Oktoberfest with all the information. Once you’ve done that and have placed posters in strategic and visible places, you can focalize the information and prepare flyers about the event to give out among the target public within the radius of action of your business. Flyers tend to be cheap and informative, but they give great results. Particularly if you include discounts or promotions.

Both the posters and flyers should include the characteristic elements of Oktoberfest. It’s a good idea to add illustrations and images such as logos, food, beer, a Ferris wheel, a pretzel or Schnitzel, and others such as flags with harlequin patterns, characteristic of the Munich flag. Having grabbed the attention of customers with these images, make sure that the details of your event, such as the date, place, and time, are also clearly reflected. If you don’t have the chance to use graphic design programs to customize your creations, Freepik offers a powerful online editing tool called Wepik, where you’ll find several templates for Oktoberfest posters and flyers.

Menus to celebrate German gastronomy and culture

Once you’ve caught people’s attention, you have to be sure to meet their expectations, so we recommend that you organize the best possible Oktoberfest event. It’s not just about selling beer, the origin of the festival is German, so it’s only fair to promote the German culture. This will also add an exotic and unconventional touch to your event. Don’t forget to offer German beer. At the original Oktoberfest a specific type of beer is served of the Marzën variety, fermented at low temperatures and with an alcohol content of up to 6%, it is stronger and darker than traditional beer. Its name is no coincidence; it refers to the month in which it was brewed, March, and as modern cooling techniques did not exist at the time, it was made with more hops and a slightly higher alcohol content so that it could be consumed in September and October.

You should also think about taking some German gastronomy to your corner of the world. The foods that are a must for your menu are smooth pretzels, candied almonds, and the classic Bratwurst sausage served with sauerkraut, a kind of fermented cabbage that is used as an accompaniment. For dessert, you can include apple strudel or gingerbread hearts. Now that you’ve sorted out the menu, it’s best to put it in an attractive format to make your customers’ mouths water.

Don’t forget about digital formats

As customers are also online, you must also complement the promotion of your event in this environment. This includes publishing content on your website, blog or on social media. If you manage to do all of this, you’ll achieve a 360 marketing campaign that will multiply your chances of success exponentially.

Just like you prepared content and posters to inform visitors of your event, you’ll have to do the same on your website, mailing, and social media. To do so, it’s useful to have a good collection of banners and backgrounds for your designs.

Try to maintain the same color palette, communication tone and use the same photos in your digital content. This way, users will see coherence within your communications, adding professionalism to your communication strategy. Make sure that all the event details are clearly listed on your website’s home page and on your social media to reduce confusion and increase participation in the event.

Send a communication by email to your database to inform them of the event that you’ll be holding. Include content representative of Oktoberfest with illustrations, drawings, or clip art with characteristic elements of the festival, such as beer, pretzels, bratwurst, etc. It’s also a good idea to send customers a personalized invitation to increase engagement.

Presence on social media will help you spread the word about your event and encourage people to participate. Good social media strategies can successfully increase turnout and boost your credibility as a host. So, it’s important to keep up a good frequency of posts. We’ll help you with several Oktoberfest posts for your social media.

• Start by building up expectations before the event. And do the same while it is being held.
• This celebration lasts a couple of weeks, so you can monitor it through the real-time use of the hashtag.
• Offer prize draws, contests, and share contents uploaded by customers or visitors. Give your followers something to talk about.
• Don’t only talk about yourself, offer information of interest about the event, its history, statistics… Share interesting facts about Oktoberfest with your followers.

With these tips in mind, we’re sure your celebration will be a success, boosting your brand reputation and encouraging attendance at future editions. You’ve given it your all, you deserve a Bratwurst and an apple strudel to savor the fruits of your campaign.