Bayern Munich & Bavaria: How Oktoberfest is at the heart of the Bundesliga giants’ deep connection with their home region

Thanks to the rise of social media, an increasingly popular aspect of Bayern’s connection with the region of Bavaria is the club’s Oktoberfest festivities – known locally as the Wiesn, Munich’s ‘fifth season’ – between late September and early October.

Oktoberfest began in 1810 when the people of Munich residents were invited to celebrate Prince Ludwig’s marriage to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. Today, it’s effectively a celebration of Bavarian folk culture.

It seems to be an unofficial requirement of playing for the club that you get into the merriment, and Die Roten have now been marking the occasion for decades. Scroll through the archives and you’ll find photos of Bayern icons like Pep Guardiola, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Oliver Kahn and Lothar Mathaeus getting involved.

That means donning traditional Bavarian garb including lederhosen (leather shorts with breaches), the distinctive trachtenhemd and trachtenjacke shirt and jacket, trachtenschuhe shoes and maybe even a trachtenhut (traditional hat) and heading out to one of the specially constructed tents for a few pretzels and steins of beer.

Explaining Bayern’s involvement in the festival back in 2014, Bavarian Football Works wrote: “The players and staff of Bayern Munich have been attending the festival for years. Lately, the official visit has fallen on the final weekend. They can be found in the Kaferzelt tent, posing for pictures with a King Ludwig impersonator and doing some important team bonding over beer and pretzels.

“Bayern’s connection with the festival doesn’t end there. Since 2003 the club has had a strong partnership with Paulaner, one of the official breweries for Oktoberfest. Paulaner provides 100 litres of beer for every goal scored by a Bayern player and invites the team to celebrate in their tent every festival season.”

The resulting photos always go down well, as the men’s and women’s teams, the coaching staff and their families go all out, although we’re not convinced they actually get through that many steins as modern athletes focused on peak performance.

Speaking to the Bundesliga’s official website about this year’s event, Bayern’s ex-Liverpool winger Luis Diaz said: “For me, Bayern is special. Oktoberfest is so big in Munich. Last year, I experienced it but not in the way I would’ve liked. I think this year I’m going to be a bit more into it, go with family and a brother over here.

“I’m going to try and enjoy it a lot more, get closer to the culture because it’s really nice seeing all the people dressed up for Oktoberfest. It’s amazing. It’s a really nice event.” He added: “A good party. A great event. Always lots of people. I’ll dress up nicely.”