I’ve always found it a little bit odd and perhaps even mildly amusing that Munich’s “Oktoberfest” is actually celebrated in September, with only the final few days actually falling in the month of October. Now more than 200 years old, it was originally a royal wedding celebration, held in the middle of October, on a site of some 42 hectares on the south west outskirts of Munich. It has evolved over the years to become a huge fair, spread over nearly three weeks, complete with opening parade, brewery horse teams and bands, carnival side shows and enormous beer tents. It was apparently moved forward into September to take advantage of marginally longer days and better weather.

Anyway, believe it or not. we now have a couple of Oktoberfests of our own, here in Galicia. Held in Negreira and Pontevedra respectively, they were held this weekend….. at the beginning of November. It occurred to me that, if these new local beer festivals are not tied to any particular tradition, then why didn’t the organisers create something new and original, and simply call them Novemberfest!

Actually, the tradition that we really need next is Albariñofest – to be held at any time of year (or perhaps even all year ’round).

I’ve always found it a little bit odd and perhaps even mildly amusing that Munich’s “Oktoberfest” is actually celebrated in September, with only the final few days actually falling in the month of October. Now more than 200 years old, it was originally a royal wedding celebration, held in the middle of October, on a site of some 42 hectares on the south west outskirts of Munich. It has evolved over the years to become a huge fair, spread over nearly three weeks, complete with opening parade, brewery horse teams and bands, carnival side shows and enormous beer tents. It was apparently moved forward into September to take advantage of marginally longer days and better weather.

Anyway, believe it or not. we now have a couple of Oktoberfests of our own, here in Galicia. Held in Negreira and Pontevedra respectively, they were held this weekend….. at the beginning of November. It occurred to me that, if these new local beer festivals are not tied to any particular tradition, then why didn’t the organisers create something new and original, and simply call them Novemberfest!

Actually, the tradition that we really need next is Albariñofest – to be held at any time of year (or perhaps even all year ’round).