Celebrating Oktoberfest in Cumbria

Celebrating Oktoberfest in Cumbria is becoming a permanent fixture in the hospitality diary. So how has this all come about? There aren’t many direct or obvious connections between a Bavarian wedding in the early 1800s and the Lake District.

Except to say that it’s a wonderful festival to hang your hat on in terms of conviviality and fun.

In recent years, celebrating Oktoberfest in the UK, and indeed across the world and when you take a closer look at it, there are some welcoming comparisons between the rugged landscapes and culture of Bavaria and the rolling fells of the Lake District that are worth highlighting. Not least in that is the shared desire to celebrate great company, great food and a stein or two of foaming German beer!

Historical links between Bavaria and the Lake District

The Lake District and Bavaria have other historical links which pre-date the original 1810 Oktoberfest. In the mid-1500s, skilled Bavarian miners and metallurgists were hired by the Company of Mines Royal to help develop the area’s copper mines.

And a number of Cumbrian towns have formed partnerships with German counterparts, including Windermere which is twinned with the German town of Diessen-am-Ammersee.

So the annual beer festival which first started in Munich to mark the nuptials of a crown prince in 1810 has rapidly become both a worldwide, and Cumbrian, celebration every autumn. These increasingly popular replicated festivities are a genuine effort to join in and adopt what the Bavarians call ‘gemütlichkeit’ or roughly translated, geniality and friendliness.

Oktoberfest in the Lake District

And here at English Lakes Hotels, we have decided to push the boat out too with our own versions of Oktoberfest to get our hotel guests and visitors to socialise and break bread together!

Both Low Wood Bay Resort & Spa and Wild Boar Estate are marking the Oktoberfest fortnight with a series of menu specials and a host of German beers.

In keeping with that lively Bavarian spirit, it’s set to be an evening of authentic German beers, sizzling bratwurst, pretzels, and a live Oompah band. Guests are encouraged to dress in the traditional Oktoberfest attire of Lederhosen or Dirndl to add to the fun and camaraderie.

How Oktoberfest has become so popular

According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Munich’s Oktoberfest traditionally lasts for a two week period with its climax on the first Sunday of October. It all started in 1810 with the 5- day wedding celebrations of a Bavarian crown prince. Prince Ludwig tied the knot with his Princess, Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen.
 
From there it became more of an agricultural fair which grew across the state and just a few years later, it had become an event with food and drink outlets. The idea took hold and by the end of the 20th century, the original small stalls had been swapped for spacious beer halls with bandstands and a dizzying array of food and drink.

And the word has spread in North Lancashire too, where the team at Lancaster House Hotel hosted an Oktoberfest knees-up on Saturday 4 October 2025.