An Oktoberfest party is a great time to bring friends and family together. Originally Oktoberfest was a festival in October of 1810 to celebrate the marriage of Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese in Bavaria. Even since then it has grown in size and actually shifted forward on the calendar to the end of September to capitalize on the good weather. The festival is filled with food, beer, dancing and decorations in large beer halls. You don't have to be German to celebrate Oktoberfest. (St. Patrick's Day isn't limited to just the Irish).

Throwing an Oktoberfest party is as simple as following these three simple steps.

We have everything you need to transform your bar, office, or living room into a miniature beer hall. Start of with an Oktoberfest banner or Oktoberfest party tape to welcome your guests. Decorate your walls with Oktoberfest cutouts and musical instrument cutouts. We have a lot of hanging decorations including an Oktoberfest pennant banner, Oktoberfest stringers, and Oktoberfest danglers. If you want to instantly transform an entire room use the Oktoberfest decorating kit which includes all of the above along with traditional blue and white tissue decorations. Check out all of our Oktoberfest decorations.

We have Oktoberfest food picks and an Oktoberfest table runner to make your food service look official. Blue and white are the official colors of Bavaria so we have solid color tableware in blue and white. We also have German food cutouts which you can use to show what authentic German cuisine looks like. Large German pretzels with mustard are a great snack to serve with your keg of beer. In Germany, most beers are served at room temperature in large beer steins. You can certainly adapt any of these foods to match your guest's tastes. Most American Oktoberfest parties include hot dogs, pork, sauerkraut, and cold beer.

For fun you can hand out Oktoberfest vests for men and women. We have several different types of Oktoberfest hats in plastic and fabric to match your budget. Check our all of our Oktoberfest apparel. Give each guest a blue and white lei or Oktoberfest beaded medallion to not only give them something to dress up in, but something they can keep to remember your party. Finally, give each guest a Kazoo to hum along with the polka music.

An Oktoberfest party is fun to have even if you aren't serving beer. We have many people who tell us that they serve root beer or birch beer so that they can keep their Oktoberfest parties family friendly. Oktoberfest is a great excuse to get together to celebrate good friends. We hope this guide is useful to you in helping you plan your next Oktoberfest party. And don't feel like Oktoberfest parties can only take place in October. You can throw an Oktoberfest party any time of the year!