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Exactly.  My friend Chip at Live Oak brews one of the best Oktoberfests in the USA.  And he absolutely can't sell it beyond Halloween, nobody will buy it. 

Several brewers have started using the Marzen label or simply calling it Festbier in an attempt to lengthen the buying cycle for it, not sure whether it's working or not.

Personally, it's tough for me to drink a Marzen while it's still 100 degrees outside so I don't typically crack one until the end of September, but they've been on the shelf here since mid July.  I actually noted the day this year, it was one of the large national brands like Sam Adams or Sierra Nevada, and it was July 18th. 

Heck, I'll still be drinking pilsners and kolsch until November, but such is the way of things.

Yeah, I can buy that the actual Germans have changed their recipes for "Festbier." 

But from what I've seen, the ones in the USA are just trying to get out from underneath the name.  At least a couple local ones I've seen are still Marzens, not something lighter.

Hitting up the real Oktoberfest is still on my bucket list though.  Even if they no longer serve the correct beer.

Odd history with Oktoberfest. The "festbiers" served at the fest are no longer traditional Marzen style. Those styles were deemed too strong, too heavy, and so today a "festbier" is much more pale and a little lower ABV.


https://learn.kegerator.com/festbier/