New York City just might throw the most authentic Oktoberfest celebration outside of Munich

Advertisement

Munich on the East River

Sarah Jacobs

With everyone singing along to live Oompah music, Munich on the East River felt supremely authentic.

Oktoberfest is the largest beer festival in the world.

Advertisement

Each year, around six million visitors descend on Munich to drink more than six million liters of beer over the course of three weeks.

But what a lot of foreigners don't know about Oktoberfest, apart from the fact that it mostly takes place in September, is that it's still a very cultural, very local celebration, with only 15% of attendees coming from outside of Germany.

A full 70% of visitors come from Bavaria, the southeastern German state where Munich is located.

Oktoberfest is emulated the world over, but its imitators are rarely authentic.

Advertisement

So when I, a seasoned Oktoberfest veteran and Munich native, saw that Zum Schneider, the New York restaurant that taught us how to pour beer like a German, was setting up an authentic beer tent for their own Oktoberfest, I decided to see how it compared to the real thing.