Oktoberfest began in 1810 as a royal wedding celebration

[Limabeany]

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/oktoberfest-began-in-1810-as-a-royal-wedding-celebration/story-fni0cx12-1227086133169

"The Bavarian Beer is the most celebrated of all kinds of this drink brewed in Germany," wrote socialist Frederick Engles in May 1844, "And, of course, the Bavarians are much addicted to its consumption in rather large quantities."

Engles was commenting on scenes in Munich after Ludwig increased beer tax by 10 per cent: "The working men assembled in large masses, paraded through the streets, assailed the public houses, smashing the windows, breaking the furniture, and destroying everything in their reach, to take revenge for the enhanced price of their favourite drink." The riots eventually forced Ludwig to remove the beer levy. Four years later, his dalliance with dancer and courtesan Lola Montez, whose agitation against Munich students led to more riots, finally forced Ludwig's abdication.

His legacy was Munich's annual festival, which began as a celebration when Crown Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen on October 12, 1810, after a 10-month courtship.