Say "Oktoberfest" and most people picture a stein, a long wooden table and a brass band. What is much harder to picture is how big it is.
6.5 million litres of beer.
That is how much the festival hosts estimate was served at Oktoberfest 2025, the last festival to finish: around 6.5 million litres (about 1.7 million US gallons) over 16 days.
The same official report puts attendance at around 6.5 million visitors.
Across the whole festival, that works out at roughly one litre (about two US pints) of beer per visitor. It is an average, not a ration.
That figure is our calculation from the two official estimates, and it hides a very uneven spread. Children and plenty of adults drink no beer at all, and in 2025 demand for alcohol-free beer rose by 6 to 10 percent, depending on the tent. Still, the ratio is stubborn: 7 million litres for 6.7 million visitors in 2024, and 7.4 million for 7.2 million in 2023.
It isn't one beer hall. It's dozens.
Oktoberfest has 14 large tents and 21 small ones, plus three more festival tents at the Oide Wiesn, the festival's historical section. Some are enormous: the Hofbräu-Festzelt alone can accommodate around 10,000 people.
And the tents are only part of it.
The 2026 festival grounds cover 34.5 hectares (about 85 acres). This year, 478 businesses were approved to trade there, including 243 ride operators, alongside food and drink vendors and market stalls.
All of it has to be built first. Setup for the 2026 festival began on 29 June: twelve weeks of work, every day, for a festival that lasts sixteen.
Sources checked 30 September 2026·5 sources ↓