Oktoberfest ushers in the Beery 'Ber' Moments

People have been asking me, why this year’s Oktoberfest is starting early September. The SMB Oktoberfest kick-off party will be on September 5 at MEPZ grounds in Lapu-Lapu City. San Miguel Oktoberfest will go on for 120 days to embrace the other ‘ber’ months with celebrations of companionships, friendships and togetherness.

Beer which is now very much part of the Filipino life had its beginnings in the early 3000 B.C. when the historic Mesopotamians concocted a drink out of barely for their rituals. From their altars, the brew made its way to the Egyptians as a drink reserved for the royalty and high priests.

Unlike the belief that beer was considered a “sin” product, beer was then an essential to special preparations of monasteries in the middle ages, being part of the staple food of monks and pilgrims and even families who could afford to brew. This was due to its high nutritive value and its being a good water substitute as, water was not distributed in sanitary pipes as they are today.

The introduction of beer in the country ushered in San Miguel Beer’s beginnings. With its name taken after Saint Michael, the archangel, whose fiesta was celebrated during the inauguration of the first brewery of San Miguel – La Fabrica de Cerveza de San Miguel. To date, the Pale Pilsen, which is an emblem of San Miguel Brewery Inc.’s business, remains a steady icon to strong ties and lasting relationships.

Oktoberfest which started in Bavaria in October 1810 during the wedding of its Crown Prince Ludwig to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. This once again proved that the brew was a good witness to sealing love pacts, the most tender of all relationships. 

Later in Munich, wedding festivals followed the mode of this celebration and eventually, the merriment evolved into what is now called the Oktoberfest.

In the country, San Miguel adopted this tradition by coming up with exciting events that is grounded in the country’s culture of a good life and celebrations.

Thus, this year, the Oktoberfest starts early like Christmas. Where the long season of jollity is premised on the Filipino’s desire to “make new friends, keep the old” and know that the silver and gold relationships don’t tarnish with the rub of time.

Cheers!