Oktoberfest is happening this year! And we’re offering you FREE BEER! Just book any Stoke Travel accommodation package  and use the promo code FREEBEER at the last booking step to get free and unlimited beer and sangria at our campsite bar*.

Gimme one night FREE!
Or click here for more info about our Oktoberfest packages (just try to remember that promo code for when you book)

Munich Lord Mayor, Dieter Reiter stated at a press conference on April 29th that Oktoberfest would be held from the 17th of September to the 3rd of October 2022, “without conditions and without restrictions”.

He went on the state that “the cancellation of Oktoberfest 2022 is not possible”, and that, “ultimately, it’s up to everyone to decide for themselves anyway whether and how much they want to celebrate at the Volksfest (Oktoberfest).”

Oktoberfest chief, Clems Baumgärtner added, “All Wiesn fans are happy today. I personally am also very happy. The decision gives perspective. For the people and for the economy. I believe that we will experience a mega Wiesn (Oktoerbfest) 2022. Because we are already experiencing at the Spring Festival (Springfest) how great people’s desire to celebrate is.”

See the official press release, here

Which means that after two years of cancellations, Oktoberfest will be back on for the first time since 2019

Which means that it will be the biggest, best, wildest and most beer-filled Oktoberfest in living memory. It also means that it will definitely sell out. So make your plans now (and make them with Stoke)

Stoke Travel, the biggest host of Oktoberfest revellers in Munich – each year showing some 8000 or so people every year the best time of their lives – has always held faith in the Oktoberfest and Munich authorities’ ability to put on an event in 2022. In fact, we’ve already received a record number of bookings, for this time of year.

This is because many beer lovers were left disappointed by the cancellation of not just the 2020 & 2021 Oktoberfest, but festival travel in general. There are a lot of travellers around Europe and the world who have missed out on a year of partying and meeting new people, and who are looking for any way to celebrate the end the pandemic.

Oktoberfest, with its delicious Bavarian beer, table dancing, and international crowd of party people, is the perfect opportunity for the world to have fun once again. We are certain that the event in 2022 will sell out, and do recommend that everybody interested reserve their spots now with a deposit*.

Stoke offers solo and twin share camping, teepees for up to eight people, and glamping options, all with mattresses and bedding included. All of our packages include a cooked bottomless brunch daily – with mimosas – as well as our infamous Stoketoberfest campsite carnival with international bands, DJs, performers and fellow travellers from all over the world, as well as our completely open and unlimited beer and sangria bar for an extra €10 a day.

*PLUS all of our trips come with a full money-back guarantee if you can’t attend due to a positive COVID diagnosis (but we’re sure that won’t be the case – we’re leaving all of that behind us!)

For everything you need to know about Oktoberfest and Stoketoberfest, CLICK THIS LINK AND head over here.

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Of course during this pandemic only fools make predictions, but we’ve never pretended to not be fools. Cheerful, optimistic fools. But still, these aren’t predictions. These are official statements from the people who make the decisions. And so, we’re here to share with you the latest news about Oktoberfest and why it’s going to be ON! 

21st February, 2022 – Oktoberfest Poster Competition Winner Announced

This is always the best indication that Oktoberfest will be on, with the Oktoberfest organisers and chief, Clemens Baumgärtner, choosing this hopeful image as the winner of the annual poster competition, hosted since 1952. 

See the top three designs, here!

2nd February 2022 – Oktoberfest chief Clemens Baumgärtner confident Oktoberfest will ON!

Stating that a decision will be made at the beginning of May, the Oktoberfest chief has said that he’s confident that it will be on. From the article: “Oktoberfest boss Clemens Baumgärtner (45, CSU) when asked by BILD: “My gut tells me: the Oktoberfest will take place. With the 2G rule.” So for those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered.”

Full article, here!

1st February 2022 – Springfest is confirmed ON!

In what is promising news for Oktoberfest fans, the spring manifestation of the event (colloquially known as Oktoberfest’s younger sibling or more correctly Fruhlingsfest in the native tongue) has been announced on the Munich city’s events page. 

We always consider Springfest to be our bellwether event for determining if Oktoberfest will be on or not, and an opportunity for the organisers to trial health, safety and security measures in preparation for the bigger Oktoberfest event. 

Don’t trust us? Get it from the horse’s mouth, here! 

8th January 2022 – Oktoberfest organisers considering a summer event

Rather than have to cancel the event in September-October, some organisers are considering a summer event, but the general consensus is that we’ll be going ahead with the event in the traditional timeslot – just for vaccinated or recently recovered beer lovers.

Article, as per usual, here.

3rd January 2022 – Munich mayor is optimistic about Oktoberfest, says vaccine passports and electronic entry preferred to socially distanced event

Munich mayor, Dieter Reiter, has said that he is confident that Oktoberfest will go on, and will go on in a manner that we’re more accustomed to, without face masks and social distancing. From the article, “One thing that Reiter is sure of: When the Oktoberfest takes place, it will be a Oktoberfest as we know it from the past. There will be no ‘isolation or gaps in the tents’, according to the mayor in the AZ conversation. ‘In this respect, that Oktoberfest feeling can definitely arise. I would also like to have a little silver lining again that something like normality can be back in late summer 2022.’”

Here’s the whole story.

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The “Roaring 20s” start in 2022!

Wasn’t that a pile of bullshit? Coming seemingly out of nowhere in March 2020 (we were turned back from the Andorra border with a bus full of skiers and boarders and schnapps lovers right when the world locked down) and hanging around for FAR too long, the COVID-19 pandemic was a serious meddler in our grand plans to continue ruling the European youth party travel (how specific!) scene.

Some 700 days and counting of not being able to run our festival campsites. Of restrictions on movement and the gathering of people. Of partying. Of all things very integral to Stoke Travel’s business model. Seven-fucking-hundred days of burning through our pathetic savings, of disappointing people who had trips booked with us, but most importantly 700 days of not hanging out with you legends and going to the world’s wildest festivals, loosest destinations – of living a life of leisure and pleasure and partying all night and most of the day.

Seven hundred days where we have barely squeezed ONE drop out of the juice of life, let alone every last drop. 

But we’re done with that, we’re back and from where we’re standing 2022 is looking RED HOT! We’ve just run two sold-out snow trips to Andorra with buses filled with absolute legends intent on challenging themselves on the slopes by day and in the bars by night (and by some of the day too). We’ll be taking 1000+ partiers to Sitges for Carnival, which is at pre-pandemic levels. Ibiza is open again and so our Spring Break trip there over Easter will be the wildest one yet (and that’s saying something). 

And our bookings to date for trips like Springfest, San Vino, the San Sebastian Surf House, San Fermin, La Tomatina, Barcelona Boat Parties, and the big mumma of them all, Oktoberfest, are all at unprecedented levels for this time of the year, as some of these events have been confirmed ON for the first time in two years, and travellers are scratching their itchy feet with our epic early bird deals*.

So for now, while the pandemic clears and travellers get their nerve to make bookings back we’re going to hang onto the €1 deposit system for now. We know that it’s still spooky out there and that some people might be hesitant about putting down a more significant deposit. That’s cool, we understand and will keep our risk-free booking system going. We just want you to book a trip in 2022 travel with peace of mind, and we’d be honoured if you chose to book some trips with us.

Let’s fuck shit up together this year. Let’s squeeze every goddamn last drop out of every opportunity that presents itself to us. Now isn’t the time to um and ah and make prudent decisions. In 2022 we act on impulse. We only do the things that please us. We leave the pandemic in our rearview mirror and immerse ourselves in some low down, dirty dionysian good times. 

Are you with us? 

*Don’t tell accounts that we told ya, but the promo code for half-price Ultimate Oktoberfest packages (four nights for the price of two) is STOKETOBERFEST2022 and you can get our infamous open beer and sangria bar for FREE at Springfest with the promo code SPRINGBOOZE. 

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This feels like a terribly self-indulgent thing for me to do – you know, who cares about what the piddling CMO from a middling youth travel company has to say – but rebrands are momentous moments in a brand’s history – given their occurring only when a brand is making a pivot, and act as trail markers in the brand’s history – and as such deserve, if not demand, some explanation.

So here I am. Gravy. Stoke Travel’s first surf instructor back when we were Smashed Travel; brand manager from when we reinvented as Stoke back in 2008, and now as CMO I’m proud to present this V.3 iteration of Stoke Travel to you and to a new generation of young travellers, thrill seekers and hedonists.

So why the change? And why now?

One thing we’ve always cherished and cultivated is a strong brand identity. Something memorable for better or  worse. An honest youth travel brand. Cheeky – maybe sometimes a little crass, but always fun.

Due to our position as the upstart underdog brand, we’ve never been overly concerned about parents and partnerships, and this has allowed us to create a brand identity that really speaks to the experiences of young people travelling Europe. We’ve never had to completely ignore the sex, drugs and €2 baguettes reality that for many punctuates their exploration of the Old Continent; while we’ve never actively spruiked it – as this would be indecent, cringe and careless of us – we’ve been able to offer a little nudge and a wink to what travellers were encountering on the road.

And for that reason our previous logo made sense. For those of you unfamiliar with said logo, here it is in all of its kind of inappropriate glory.

Cheeky. Provocative. And yep, they’re my feet. The intimate details of how this came to be our logo aren’t necessary in this forum, but I can divulge that our first collection of tents couldn’t accommodate my full length (1.95m), and that an industrious surf camp manager/passionate photographer was up and cleaning the previous night’s party detritus and just so happened upon the visage of me and a bunk buddy stretching into the field, snapped the photo, and when we were developing the previous brand identity we decided that it would make for a perfect logo.

Its ability to make travellers look twice, provoke thought and conversation made it a memorable logo for us at that time, and it served us well as we made our way through our ratbag years. This was the time when it was our unstated aim to be banned from the advertising pages of TNT (London-based Australian and Kiwi expats magazine with a heavy focus on travel). To throw the most outrageous experiences at our festivals, destinations and campsites. Because to be the new guy, the upstart, we had to go over the top with our branding. Grab attention. Make sure that the audience knew that they’d find a good time with us.

And this worked! This era of scoundrel marketing saw us grow from having a surf camp in France to being a main player at Europe’s finest festivals; from hosting dozens of travellers at any given time to hosting thousands. We cemented our position as Europe’s number one festival travel company, appealing to an entire generation of travellers (or at least the most rambunctious subset amongst them).

Of course these strategies drew criticism, some deserved and some not, and as times and travellers changed it began to become clear that we had to move away from our overtly “blokey” brand culture. Despite having women steering the Stoke ship from an ownership level all the way to making up the majority of our on-site staff, there was no denying that Stoke Travel, with its copulating feet logo and predisposition to imbibe cheap beer at Europe’s wildest parties was always going to at least appear to be “for the lads, by the boys”.

And that’s not what we have always believed the brand to represent. We wanted to provoke and push limits, but not to appear exclusive. This most certainly didn’t fit with our future plans, when our in-brand mottos are to provide “Outrageous, Inclusive and Progressive Experiences”, and so we made the difficult decision to change a universally recognised logo, and with it the colour scheme and much of the content that had come to exemplify that chapter in our history.

Once the pandemic put a pause on travel for us, we used the time to explore our options for this rebrand. We knew that we wanted something light and funky, that exemplified the post-war years golden age of indulgent leisure – when people would pack their cases and jet off for a poolside week of drinking mai tais and dancing barefoot. Palm Springs influenced 50s Californian cool meets Biarritz in the 60s, or something like that.

With the fresh new main colour palette we developed a suite of colours and combinations to represent our trip and destination pillars: Barcelona, Surfing, Spanish Fiestas, Sailing the Mediterranean, Ibiza, Snow, Festivals Around the World, and of course Oktoberfest.

The logo we’re going for had the working title of Yabadaba-GO as we were working with The Swords’ Bros on design – two Australian brothers who, when they’re not fronting party rock band Tropical Zombie, have churned out some seriously mind-bending concepts for surf brands and music festivals alike. We went through some weird and wonderful designs before we settled on this jazzy jitterbug script. It carries the same cool that we’ve got with our new colour combinations.

With the wordmark logo we’re making sure that the Stoke Travel name is as legible and memorable as possible by putting it at centre stage, but we’re lacking the suggestiveness of the previous pair of post-porking pig trotters. So we’ve created something more aligned with our core business – a globe with us taking a greedy, moorish bite out of Europe – and teamed it with our new main slogan, Squeeze every last drop.

Squeeze every last drop out of your travels; squeeze every last drop out of your free time. Squeeze every last drop out of this post-pandemic life. We are fully aware that travel companies have less and less time with young travellers – and agree that it’s how it should be! Travellers now are more independent, tech savvy, have apps at their beck and call, can draw upon the boundless expanses of travel advice and experience available from bloggers and YouTubers and TikTockers and Instagrammers and probably not Facebookers.

So because we know that we are going to spend less time with young travellers we pledge to make sure that we’re squeezing as many experiences and connections into every waking moment that we have with them. That their time with us is spent meeting new and fascinating people from all over the world, experiencing Europe’s most wonderful festivals and destinations together, partying and dancing and learning and most importantly of all having as much fun as is humanly possible.

We’re drinking the juice of life and squeezing every last drop out of the bottle.

So that’s it. That’s the self-indulgent tale of where the brand has been, where it is as of today, and where it’s going. But we aren’t resting here. We never will. It’s just that we’re proud of where we are right now, how we got here, and excited to welcome a new generation of Stokies to Europe.

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