Oktoberfest: Origin and Why It Used To Be So Popular in Malaysia

Huge-scale Oktoberfest celebrations used to be all the rage in this country. Whatever happened to them?

Oktoberfest! The very mention of the word brings so many images to mind. People in lederhosen, yodelling. German sausages and sauerkraut. And of course, beer. Gallons and gallons of this foamy amber liquid, chugged from huge one-litre glasses named steins. For some people, this is the whole point of the celebration.

You wouldn’t think this festival, a pillar of Bavarian culture, would be very popular with Malaysians. Many of whom, to be honest, would have trouble locating Germany on a map.

Yet for a while, Oktoberfest events were highly popular here, particularly for those with a taste for beer. These events drew hordes of revellers to a bar or gathering every night. A 2012 Oktoberfest celebration at the 1Utama shopping centre in Petaling Jaya, for example, was reported to have drawn crowds of over 5,000.

“Oktoberfest used to be really big. They’re still one of our big cornerstone events today. Every year, we plan for it about two months or so in advance. We try to deliver the essence of Germany’s Oktoberfest, but in a more localised sort of package,” says Mikhail Alexander Svrcula, a brand executive at local German restaurant The Bavarian Bierhaus.

The origins of Oktoberfest go back to a wedding hundreds of years ago. On Oct 12, 1810, the Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria wed Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen, and their union was marked with multiple days of beer drinking, feasting and horse races. These celebrations proved so much fun, they were held again every year, creating the festival we know now as Oktoberfest.

Today, official celebrations are held in Munich, Germany, over a two-week period, ending on the first Sunday of October. It is also celebrated globally: on our shores, the Penang-based Malaysian-German Society has been commemorating the event for almost 40 years.

As the years went by, the scale of Oktoberfest grew and grew. Huge celebrations were held, with an emphasis on beer and making merry. Local beer enthusiast Kennhyn Ng remembers how they used to be something he really looked forward to.

“Beer is a fun drink, and beer events are always fun. If you’re at Oktoberfest, the night is young, the music is loud, the crowds are great, the people are joyful... you’ll have an epic night!” laughs Ng, who is also the co-founder of local craft beer bars The Great Beer Bar and Ales and Lagers.

Above Kennhyn Ng

For a while, it seemed these events would only get grander. Yet things shifted in the early 2010s, as changing perceptions and political sensitivities turned the tide against large alcohol-based events. In 2014, religious groups started online campaigns protesting Oktoberfest. This sentiment reached an apex in 2017, after the Better Beer Festival, the country’s largest craft beer festival at them time, had to be cancelled due to protests from political parties.

“I also think that here, the novelty of the festival was also starting to wear off. For most Malaysians, it was less about getting the authentic taste of Germany, but more about just drinking and having fun. It became like any other beer festival. Even places which had nothing to do with German culture were having Oktoberfest events. So there was less need to make these festivals as big as they used to be because you could just go to any bar and drink,” reminisces Svrcula, who is half Malaysian, half German.

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The pandemic only exacerbated matters. The official 2021 Oktoberfest in Munich, for example, has been cancelled for the second year in a row. While it seems unlikely that large-scale beer events can be held for a while, hope still reigns eternal for local beer drinkers. “I hope we can bring back events like this. And have them more frequently. But organising events like this take a lot of effort which many don’t see. And organisers can plan so much, just to get their plans cancelled in the end,” Ng says.

Svrcula says the Bavarian Bierhaus would still be celebrating Oktoberfest this year, albeit on a smaller, more socially-distanced scale. He recalls a time, seven or eight years ago, when he was in Munich, and managed to attend the actual Oktoberfest celebrations. “It’s huge over there. There was a parade, a funfair, a circus as well. There’s music playing, and you’re with your friends, having a good time. Everyone seemed so happy, so alive. That was a good time. I remember it fondly,” he smiles.

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Oktoberfest: Origin and Why It Used To Be So Popular in Malaysia