Where to celebrate Oktoberfest: London 2019

London Oktoberfest

Launched in 2011, the official London Oktoberfest is among the biggest of the celebrations in the city, welcoming around 50,000 guests each year across its three separate venues: Millwall Park, Kensington Olympia and Moorgate.

At each venue, expect a giant blue and white striped tent lined with long wooden tables, where guests can pull up a pew (advanced booking recommended if you’re in a large group), and take it in turns to refill steins of beer from the bars dotted along the edges. Feeling laze? You can also put in your order with one of the dirndl or Lederhosen-wearing waiters and waitresses. Entertainment comes by way of traditional bands, who have travelled from Germany to entertain UK-based guests. Dancing on the tables is not only allowed here, it’s encouraged.

German Kraft Brewery at Mercato Metropolitano

For an upmarket take on Oktoberfest, look no further than the German Kraft Brewery at Mercato Metropolitano. Here, the brewers use their own water distillation and mineralisation technology to optimise the natural flavourings of the beer. This equipment also allows them to avoid using additives and preservatives in their food. These brewers are hot on their sustainability, too, serving in reusable glasses only. Expect to find more bearded hipsters than Bavarian dirndls at this do, plus all your favourite London brews.

South London Oktoberfest

New for 2019, South London Oktoberfest is the largest celebration of the German festival taking place south of the river. Join nearly 3,000 other revellers at Electric Brixton for an all-stein-glugging, all-oompah-ing celebration. Expect live music from London Brass All Stars – who promise to play classic oompah favourites – plus DJ sets from Sexy Kitchen Party to keep the knees-up going into the night. Food comes by way of London’s favourite wurst chain: Herman ze German.

Camden Oktoberfest

So you want to celebrate Oktoberfest but at a smaller venue with a smaller crowd. Camden Oktoberfest is now in its fourth year and offers a slightly more refined – or more ‘London’, anyway – take on the German festival, welcoming 6,000 guests over a four-day period. The celebrations are held in Camden’s Electric Ballroom and see the space transformed into a Bavarian beer hall complete with long tables and plenty of bunting.

With popular mini-chain Herman Ze German behind the food, guests can expect to have their taste buds treated as they fuel up.

London Bierfest

The London Bierfest has earned its stripes as the stalwart Oktoberfest offering in the capital, having been running since 2003, and is the firm favourite for corporate events. Each day, the celebrations see around 2,000 revellers flock to the Victorian Grade II-listed Old Billingsgate Market, which is transformed into an old Bavarian beer hall for the occasion with green and yellow bunting, and dim lighting.

Expect table service for both beers and food at this more formal event (no jostling for a place at the bar here!), and plenty of live entertainment.

Vegtoberfest

Vegans get a bad rep for stealing the limelight and turning group conversations into a lecture on the benefits of their diet. Thankfully, there’s a vegan Oktoberfest in Camden, Vegtoberfest, ready to cater for those on a plant-based diet who still want to raise a pint. Expect vegan-friendly beers, wines and street food coupled with live music from Old Dirty Brasstards (12 October) and Brasstermind (19 October). The entertainment doesn't stop there, either; there’s comedy acts, too, and cabaret hosted by London-based star Dee Riley.

‘Be more specific about the food and drink,’ you vegans cry. Okay, so drink wise there’s vegan takes on classic Bavarian brews including Spaten and Lowenbrau, as well as a number of local craft ales, wines, and even vegan Baileys. The main food offering comes by way of Rudy’s Dirty Vegan Diner, who are cooking up tasty plant-fuelled takes on Bavarian Wiesswurst, Bratwurst and Bockwurst sausages as well as serving their much-loved vegan Dirty Burger. Then there’s Fest’s Birdcage restaurant, which is serving up vegan takes on stone-baked pizzas, loaded fries and ice cream for the occasion.

Bierschenke

Across its two sites, Munich-style beer hall Bierschenke is hosting six weeks of Oktoberfest fun, with parties every Wednesday and Saturday from 18 September – 2 November. Bierschenke has been hosting Oktoberfest parties for the past eight years at its original Liverpool Street venue, but with the recent opening of a second site by Tower Hill, the company has plenty to raise giant steins to this year.

Expect the full works: steins of honey-coloured brews, platters of German Wurst, staff dressed in dirndls and lederhosen, and live ‘oompah’ bands playing a mixture of German classics and modern anthems.

QueerSchenke at Bierschenke

Following the success last year of Bierschenke's gay Oktoberfest event QueerSchenke, the beer hall's team have again invited the lubricious Vanity Von Glow (she’s the Würst) to run a similarly debauched, Schnapps-fuelled party this autumn. For one night only, on 21 September, guests can expect the style, steins and sausages of your regular Oktoberfest event, but with DJ sets and enough outrageous entertainment to make this a celebration of queerness to remember. The best bit? Entry is free.

Octoberfest Pub

If you enjoy Oktoberfest so much and you can’t wait to celebrate it again next year, you don’t have to travel to Bavaria to recreate the experience, because London is home to its very own Octoberfest Pub. The Fulham Road pub – which is open all year – was founded in 2005 by a couple of German beer enthusiasts, who loved the Bavarian food and beer scene they’d found in Munich so much they decided to recreate it in the Big Smoke.

The pub is supported by Munich brewery Paulaner and serves over 60 beers imported from Germany as well as traditional Bavarian cuisine (try the pork knuckles). Great for a special occasion, the Octoberfest pub hosts German 'Oompah' bands on a regular basis and standing on your chair to stomp along to the music is actively encouraged.

Oktoberfest at Neverland

Perhaps you lounged in one of its deckchairs or sunk your toes into the sand of its fake beach when Fulham’s Neverland was transformed into Fulham Beach last summer. Now, the pop-up is pulling out all the stops to create a traditional Oktoberfest beer hall. Swapping frozen cocktails for German beers, palm trees for long tables, and beach shorts for Dirndl and Lederhosen, the team are presenting the venue as you’ve never seen it before. But it’s not all change: expect a similar party-loving atmosphere, plenty of street food and cooler DJ sets than you're likely to hear at your average Oktoberfest shindig.