Oktoberfest

October is a merry month in Davao City and all through out the Philippines. It is the time of the year when huge numbers of people gather in celebration of Oktoberfest in a night of fun, music, laughter and cheer with families and friends consuming large quantities of free flowing beer all night and also enjoy a wide selection of traditional food; barbecued or grilled, or whatever suit their fancy in cocktail bars, restaurants, hotels, shopping malls, and even in town plazas or along a wide and spacious street filled with huge beer tents, rows of tables and chairs. 

In the Philippines, award-winning brands of beer in limited edition packs and goodies of local breweries are offered in parties, free concerts of local bands are held, and even sporting events are sponsored where cash prizes are given away to winning players who participate in the festival.

Oktoberfest has its roots in Munich, Bavaria, Germany in 1810. Crown Prince Ludwig, who later became King Ludwig I, married Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen on October 12, 1810, and the people of Munich were invited to attend the royal wedding which was held on the fields in front of the city gates to celebrate the festivity. The fields were named Theresienwiese ("field, or meadow, of Therese") in honor of the Crown Princess, and the name have been kept and abbreviated to "Wies'n" ever since. 

Horse races before the Royal Family marked the closing of the event that became a festival in Bavaria. The decision to repeat the horse races in the following year gave rise to the Oktoberfest. Since 1850, the celebration has become an important yearly event lasting 16 days from late September to the first weekend in October, where thousand of Bavarians walk in their traditional costumes from Maximilian Street through the center of Munich, and to the Oktoberfest grounds. It is one of the most famous events in Germany and is now the world's largest fair, with more than six million people from around the world in attendance. Large quantities of beer are consumed, and a wide variety of traditional food are served such as Hendl (chicken), Schweinebraten (roast pork), Schweinshaxe (grilled ham hock), Steckerlfisch (grilled fish on a stick), Würstl (sausages) along with Brezeln (Pretzel), Knödel (potato or bread dumplings), Käsespätzle (cheese noodles), Reiberdatschi (potato pancakes), Sauerkraut or Rotkohl/Blaukraut (red cabbage) and such Bavarian delicacies as Obatzda (spiced cheese-butter spread) and Weisswurst (white sausage).

In Bavaria, it is not called Oktoberfest, but actually "die Wiesn" after the colloquial name of the fairgrounds. Originally, the festival is held 16 days until the first Sunday in October. However, in 1994, the schedule was modified in response to the reunification of Germany so that if the first Sunday falls on the 1st or 2nd day of October, then the festival would go on until October 3 (German Unity Day). Thus, the festival is now 17 days when the first Sunday is October 2 and 18 days when it is October 1.