How to Organise the Best Oktoberfest Party to Celebrate with Your Friends!

What’s a party without invitations and decor?

It might be a small party at your home, a get-together at your favourite party venue or even a virtual meet - irrespective of how you’re throwing the party, invitations are a must because it sets the right mood for the party. For the invitations, you can buy suitable postcards or print out readily available templates.

Here’s another idea - you’ll be getting a costume for yourself for the Oktoberfest celebration. So, why not take a snap of yourself in the costume and print out colour copies to use for your invitations?

This is the time to add a little German wording to get into the spirit.

Here are some suggestions:

• “Willkommen!” (Welcome!)
• “Sie sind herzlich eingeladen” (You are cordially invited.)
• “Prost!” (Cheers!)
• “Oans, zwoa, drei, g’suffa!” (One, two, three, drink!”)

You can save paper and postage by simply designing an invitation to send to all your invitees over email. If this is a virtual party, make sure to mention the invite code/link and the timings. Here are a few templates you can personalise and use for sending through email or message.

Blue and white balloons and matching banners work well for an Oktoberfest party. You can get all the Oktoberfest decorations you need at one place. You can also find matching tableware for this fine occasion.

Dress yourself up for the occasion

Nothing drives the Oktoberfest mood like dressing up in the traditional costumes. Since beer plays a major role in the celebrations, you might have guessed that many costumes revolve around beer, bartender, barmaid and so on. Make it a costume party with prizes to win. How about these beer mug shades or this beer mug hat as prizes?

Browse through a selection of Oktoberfest costumes to find one of your choice here because the competition could be tough and you want to stand out in the crowd!

Beer and snacks - bring ‘em on!

Oktoberfest is literally the celebration of a drink beloved to many: chilled beer! So, stock up on beer for a good time with your friends (in your house or virtually). You can look for authentic German/Bavarian beer that you can order online.

Pretzels and gingerbread hearts are two traditional snacks that are great for an Oktoberfest party. You can find the recipe for soft pretzels here and gingerbread hearts here.

Lip-smacking Oktoberfest recipes to try out

What better way to honour Oktoberfest than to prepare and indulge in traditional dishes? Some of the popular tasty options include potato pancakes, flammkuchen (pizza topped with creme fraiche, smoked bacon and onions), sauerkraut, mushroom and cheese strudel (great for vegetarians and vegans), potato dumplings, pork roast, braised lamb, beer brats and a selection of cheeses.

Beer brats are made using bratwursts (also called brats), German lager, onions and other ingredients and perfectly represent a classic Oktoberfest dish. Why not try it? Here is the recipe.

Contests and prizes

There are many fun activities that you can plan for Oktoberfest when you have your friends over at your house. Here are just a few suggestions of the many activities you can have: pretzel-eating and/or beer drinking contests, a stein holding contest (each person has to hold two full steins of water with their arms stretched out straight. The one who can hold them the longest wins!), yodelling tryouts (the best and loudest yeller wins - give your neighbours a warning about this contest well in advance).

The prizes can be simple and sweet, ranging from homemade pretzels or cookies or a fun bottle opener ring which everybody would love to have!

Have a great time this Oktoberfest season - forget your adulthood worries, turn into carefree youths and team up with your loved ones to drink, eat, play and be merry!