Oktoberfest is coming to our corner of London. The Bermondsey Bierkeller — the Bavarian beer hall by London Bridge station that bills itself as London's biggest German beer hall — runs its Oktoberfest 2026 from Saturday 19 September to 31 October, with steins, oompah bands and schnitzel a fifteen-minute walk from the railway arches where we run our beer tours. We've been guiding tastings in Bermondsey since 2014, so here's our local's guide to the Bierkeller's Oktoberfest — what happens, what it costs, and how to build the full Bermondsey beer day around it.
What is the Bermondsey Bierkeller?
A proper Bavarian-style beer hall at 2–4 Tooley Street, SE1 2SY, effectively on top of London Bridge station — long benches, big pours and German food, with a surprising amount going on beneath it: nine holes of themed crazy golf, an underground drift-kart track ("Krazy Karts"), and a games floor with duckpin bowling and shuffleboard. There's live music every Friday from 7pm year-round, and private spaces for groups and corporate bookings. It's the year-round German counterpoint to Bermondsey's craft arches — and come autumn, it goes full Oktoberfest.
Oktoberfest 2026: the dates
The festival opens on Saturday 19 September 2026 and runs until 31 October 2026 — a six-week run that comfortably outlasts Munich's own festival. Sessions and opening days vary through the run, so check the official Bierkeller site for the current schedule before you plan.
What's on: oompah, fire and bottomless brunch
The entertainment programme leans properly Bavarian: oompah bands on Thursdays and Saturdays, the Hosen Stage Band on Fridays, and Saturday evenings adding fire acts and stilt performers. Saturday afternoons bring a Bottomless Bavarian Brunch for those who like their pretzels early. Expect stein-holding contests and singalongs — this is the loud, table-thumping end of London's beer calendar, and all the better for it.
Tickets and prices
At the time of writing, two main ticket types are listed:
- The Party (around £20–£30): entry plus reserved bench seating — the standard way in.
- The Feast (around £45–£55): reserved seating with two drink tokens and a food voucher included — the sensible choice if you're settling in for a session.
Prices vary by date and session, and popular Saturdays will cost more and sell out first, so treat these as a guide and check the official site for live prices before booking. Groups should book early — benches go fast for the big weekends.
Getting there
Easy: it's at the foot of London Bridge station (Jubilee and Northern lines, National Rail), on Tooley Street. From the station's Tooley Street exit you're there in a minute; from Borough Market it's about five minutes on foot, and the start of the Bermondsey Beer Mile at Druid Street is roughly fifteen minutes away.
Make it a full Bermondsey beer day
Here's how we'd do it — and yes, we're biased, but we also live here:
- Morning: walk our free Southwark brewing heritage route — Borough Market, the site of the world's biggest brewery, the Victorian Hop Exchange and London's last galleried coaching inn, finishing on the Beer Mile.
- Afternoon: join our guided Bermondsey Beer Tasting Tour (2–3.5 hours, £49, beer included) — tutored tastings at four railway-arch taprooms with an accredited Beer Sommelier, drinking each beer metres from where it was brewed.
- Evening: roll up Tooley Street to the Bierkeller for steins, schnitzel and an oompah band to finish the night.
Craft at the source by day, Bavarian singalong by night — that's about as good as a London beer Saturday gets. More ideas in our guides to craft beer near London Bridge and things to do near London Bridge.
Oktoberfest vs the Beer Mile: which is for you?
They're different animals, and honestly the answer is both. The Bierkeller's Oktoberfest is about scale and singalong — one big hall, big lagers, big atmosphere. The Beer Mile is the opposite: a walkable string of small independent breweries pouring some of Britain's best beer a few feet from the tanks. If your group wants to understand what they're drinking as well as drink it, that's where our guided tasting tour comes in — and it sets up an Oktoberfest evening perfectly.
Beyond the Bierkeller: Oktoberfest on the arches
Bermondsey's own breweries don't sit autumn out. Festbier-style lagers and Oktoberfest tap takeovers have become a Beer Mile tradition through late September and October — releases and events are usually announced on each taproom's social feeds a few weeks out, so keep an eye on them (or just come on a tour and ask us what's pouring). For the wider picture across the capital, our London craft beer festivals guide covers the year's fixtures.
Planning a group Oktoberfest outing?
Autumn is peak season for work socials and birthdays, and Bermondsey handles both ends of it: the Bierkeller takes group and corporate bookings with private spaces (The Bunker and the Huski Lodge), and we run private guided tastings for groups of 6 to 60+ that slot neatly in front of an evening session. Do the tour first — arriving at Oktoberfest already knowing your helles from your dunkel is a strong move. Vouchers work too: our gift vouchers never expire and make an easy group present.
More London Bridge experiences
The link below is an affiliate link: if you book through it we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only suggest experiences we'd recommend anyway.
- The View from The Shard — the Shard is directly opposite the Bierkeller; the sunset slot before an Oktoberfest session is a very good double-bill.