Joy was overflowing from everyone’s two-litre pint glasses (or maybe that was just the German beer), as venues across London hosted their annual Oktoberfest celebrations this month.
Revellers danced to the bouncing, brassy sounds of traditional oompah music in Bermondsey Bierkeller, while pop songs and pretzels warmed up the atmosphere in Oktoberfest Tour’s white marquee on Hammersmith Green.
Across both venues, Londoners turned out in milkmaid dresses and lederhosen to celebrate the festival which originated in Munich in 1810.
Commemorating the nuptials of Bavarian crown prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen, the first party was thrown by the married couple as a gift to the people of Munich and has continued every year since then.
Yuliia Farion, who settled in London from Ukraine, said she had attended Oktoberfest celebrations in the city for the past two years because she loved the energy it inspired.
Speaking outside Oktoberfest Tour’s large beer tent, she said: “I think the people just have a beautiful magic about them, when they start dancing and they have that small connection.”
As the weather gets colder and the evenings get darker, Alice Tingey, a stiltwalker at Bermondsey Bierkeller, said she thought the festival was a great excuse to get out the house and enjoy a stein (a traditional German mug of beer) or two.
Warming up for her performance, she giggled that the celebration was just ‘knee’s up, raucous, electrifying fun’.
Click on the video below to discover more about Oktoberfest and how Londoners celebrated this year:
Featured image credit: Brett Sayles/ Pexels
