Well, the 200th Anniversary of Oktoberfest has come and gone, much to the joy of my bank account and my liver. There really aren't words to describe the level of scensory overload that accompanies a first-timer at Oktoberfest and honestly, one trip just won't do the experience justice...which is why we went four times. The problem with (and the beauty of) the festival is that it is just massive and aside from the obvious beer drinking activities, there is a lot more to see and do. Upon entering the gates, the inner 8 year old in me was ready to drop the family fortune on any number of carnival rides and games. Meanwhile, the inner college kid in me was ready to spend equal amounts on 10€ a piece 1-liter beers. Thankfully, the fiscally conservative adult in me managed to come out on top, for the most part, and the savings account is still largely intact.
Oktoberfest began 200 years ago as a public celebration of the marriage of Prince Ludwig to Princess Therese on October 12. The event lasts 16 - 18 days and opens with a parade including Bavarian music and lots of people in the traditional Bavarian clothing, lederhosen & dirndl. The festival now begins in early September so that festival-goers may take advantage of the longer days and nicer weather of late September. Over 6 million people attended this year's celebration so you can only imagine the level of chaos that reigned both within the festival gates and throughout the city as a whole.
Our friends, Marjio, Andre', and Ergun, joined us from Berlin for the opening day of festivities. We arrived at the entrance gates just in time to catch the end of the parade, the 12-gun salute, and the tapping of the first keg by Munich's mayor at 12 noon. We spent the next several hours navigating the festival grounds with 10,000 of our closest friends and neighbors only to discover that all of the beer tents had filled to capacity by about 9:30 that morning! Beer is only served within the tents at the festival and so we retreated to our favorite beer garden in the city to quench our thirst and headed back to the festival later in the evening. We joined a colleague of Scott's that evening at his table in one of the tents for six hours of chugging 1-liter beers, eating pretzels the size of my head, and singing one of the strangest combinations of music I have ever encountered (traditional Bavarian tunes were always followed by a Neil Diamond or Queen song and then the crowd cheered and drank some more). It was by far the most fun I've ever had. Variations of this scene unfolded a couple more times as we joined Scott's work colleagues in various beer tents over the course of the festival.
Aside from this Bavarian spin on a massive frat party going on within the tents' walls, outside the tents an entirely different spectacle unfolded. As I mentioned earlier, there were literally hundreds of carnival rides and games and I'd have probably pulled Scott onto every one of them if it hadn't been for the massive crowds and the steep prices. We did enjoy a Ferris wheel ride just to get a perspective on the crowd from that height and I consider this 15€ well spent (check out the photo). However, there's just something about throngs of drunk people on spinning rides that quickly loses its appeal for me. Thus, we spent the majority of our non-drinking visits to the festival people watching, eating (everything from candied hazelnuts, roasted chickens to smoked fish, brats, and pretzels), and generally absorbing the sights, sounds, and smells.
All in all, this was an experience neither Scott nor I will ever forget. And whether or not you find interest in chugging a liter of beer or riding over-priced carnival rides, this is a spectacle not to be missed if ever you find yourself in Munich this time of year.
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