How to Run Fun and Effective Oktoberfest Giveaways

Oktoberfest is one of the most festive, shareable events of the year, making it a fantastic seasonal hook for brands.

It’s a celebration with global recognition from Germany to the United States, and businesses everywhere can tap into its spirit by running themed giveaways that capture leads, grow engagement, and create memorable campaigns.

This guide focuses on five high-quality Oktoberfest giveaway formats you can adapt for your own seasonal promotions.

Traditional Oktoberfest costumes are instantly recognisable, which makes them ideal for a visual competition.

Invite participants to upload photos of themselves in dirndls, lederhosen, or themed attire.

A gallery of entries encourages sharing and voting, creating natural word-of-mouth reach and a bank of user-generated content.

To add more value, you could create categories such as 'Best Group Outfit' or 'Most Creative Twist' to give people more chances to win.

If your business sells apparel or accessories, this type of contest directly ties back to your products and creates visual assets you can reuse in your own marketing channels.

A quiz can be both entertaining and educational.

Create questions around Oktoberfest traditions, German brewing culture, or festival history.

Participants complete the quiz to gain entry into your giveaway, helping you collect leads in an engaging way.

For even more interaction, reveal the correct answers at the end with fun explanations or surprising facts.

This gives participants something to share with friends and encourages them to try again if you rotate the questions each week.

Trivia works especially well for businesses that want to showcase their expertise in food, drink, or cultural themes.

The stein-holding challenge is a festival favourite that translates well online.

Ask entrants to upload short videos of themselves holding a stein for as long as possible, then reward prizes for stamina, creativity, or humour.

Entries create entertaining content you can share during the campaign to build buzz.

You could also make it a live-streamed challenge where participants join at the same time to compete virtually, adding an element of real-time fun.

Encourage friends and family to watch and cheer on their participants, which brings in a community feel.

The key is to make the challenge light-hearted so it appeals to a wide audience.

Tap into your community’s creativity by inviting people to design an Oktoberfest-inspired beer label.

Submissions can be digital or hand-drawn, and a public vote adds excitement.

This type of contest generates unique creative assets that can be used in your marketing and gives participants a sense of pride.

To keep the contest accessible, offer templates or guidelines so even beginners feel comfortable entering.

You could also collaborate with a local brewery or artist to judge the entries, which adds credibility and widens your reach.

Highlighting shortlisted designs across your channels creates ongoing content while the contest is running.

Nothing goes viral faster than pets in costumes. Invite your audience to dress up their pets in Oktoberfest outfits and submit photos.

A gallery with community voting makes this contest adorable, light-hearted, and highly shareable.

Consider giving out multiple awards such as 'Cutest Costume', 'Funniest Entry', or 'Best Duo' (pet and owner).

These extra categories make it more inclusive and give participants extra motivation to join.

This idea works particularly well for businesses in the pet industry, but any brand can use it to create goodwill and shareable content.

Themed prizes connect more strongly with the season than generic rewards.

Options include customised steins, German snack hampers, brewery tours, or branded accessories.

Aligning the prize with the Oktoberfest theme ensures your campaign feels relevant and memorable.

Promotion is key to success.

Add banners or pop-ups to your website, build anticipation with teasers on social media, and use retargeting ads to re-engage past visitors.