It's back! Portsmouth Oktoberfest ready to blow everyone away in 2017

Now promoters have revealed the world famous Oktoberfest party is making a comeback to Guildhall Square this October – and it’s set to be even bigger.

The teams behind Portsmouth’s Victorious and Mutiny Festivals are again linking up to bring back the German-inspired event.

A whopping 25,000 steins of beer – equivalent to about two pints – were poured in 2016.

And bosses hope to smash that figure as they prepare to stage the ‘global’ spectacle.

Co-organiser and Victorious director Andy Marsh said: ‘It blew everyone away last year, we had 10,000 people over the three sessions.

‘There was a lot of anticipation over how it would be, but when we put that huge structure in Guildhall Square, with the massive German beer festival, and its views of the Guildhall clock, we thought it was pretty awesome.

‘Putting it on was lots of work, but this year will be easier and we’ll build on the things that worked well.

‘Everyone dressed up and had a lot of fun and we want to encourage everyone to do the same again.

‘We want to do a lot more of the same, but with new beers and products.

‘The acts were brilliant, but we want to mix it up a bit and refresh the feel.’

Bavarian beer and entertainment will be in store so everyone can have a sing-along while wearing fancy dress.

But organisers want to mix things up and have a greater variety of music and drinks for everyone, to pull in even bigger crowds.

The festival made its debut in Portsmouth in October in Europe’s largest single beer tent, covering Guildhall Square.

The event is pencilled in for October 6 to 7, with a day session on the Friday and two on the Saturday.

Oktoberfest co-organiser and Mutiny boss, Luke Betts, said: ‘It’s a truly global event.

‘We had ticket sales from over 20 different countries last year.

‘One of the things I was fond of was the structure.

‘The engineering that went into it was so impressive.

‘The ability to take such a prestigious location and have the backing from the local authorities to do that, and hand it back in such a pristine condition, was amazing.

‘We want to keep putting Portsmouth on the map.

‘It’s just very exciting.’

It has been moved away from the Halloween weekend to keep the events separate.

It will go ahead pending approval of a licence. Tickets are to go on sale soon.

Andy said: ‘We could tell from looking at the pubs beforehand that this event was bringing people down to the area, who otherwise wouldn’t. When we looked at the tickets sales, people were coming from around the area, which was fantastic.

‘It gives us another great event on the calendar in Portsmouth.’

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