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OKTOBERFEST MUNICH
One Big Bavarian Beer Drinken Party

You get on a subway train crowded with families, children with big eyes, excited at the adventure ahead, people in funny hats and colorful clothes, brown leather pants with green piping and traditional Bavarian dresses, blue and white checkered hats, the colors of Munich and Bayern. The train ride stops and everyone pushes up the stairs from the Thereseinweise U-Bahn stop into the open evening air suddenly filled with twinkling lights, twirling and swirling carnival rides, the smell of roasting meat and toasting almonds. The sound of brass band music from the beer halls. The temperature is perfect in late September and of course, it’s Oktoberfest.

For 174 years Munich has celebrated its fall beer festival, a traditional celebration of the end of the harvest, which has become one of the world’s most famous parties. Octoberfest originally started with the wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig (became King Ludwig I, not the later one with the castle fetish see Schloss Linderhof), to Princess Theresa of Saxony-Hildburghausen, when the loving royal couple invited the citizens of Munich to celebrate on the fields outside the city gate. The fields were named after the Princess, “Theresa’s Fields” Theresienwiese and shortened to just the “Wiesn” a permanent site southwest of the old city and the Main Bahnhof railway station.

In form at first glance, Munich’s Oktoberfest is one big carnival, like many a county fair, with rides, theme entertainments and games for children, mom and dad, lovers young and old, and just the gang of friends. Despite being named after a month, the Oktoberfest usually begins the last week of September and runs for a fortnight. Cities and town across Germany have their own versions of the October Festival focused on beer like in Stuttgart or wine like Bad Durkheim (See White Wine and Sausage). What makes Munich’s Oktoberfest the grand daddy of them all are the beer tents. A bit of a misnomer because many the fourteen “tents” are actually wooden-beamed semi-permanent buildings dedicated to beer drinking, eating and letting loose. Munich’s six major breweries operate the tents, serving their own brands of specially brewed Oktoberfest beers. Traditional music and dancing with “Oom Pa Pa” brass bands and special drinking songs to which everyone knows the words, swaying and standing on the benches as the great “Mass” liter tankards of beer take their effect.

Tickets to sit in the tents go fast. A lot of the tables and benches of the tents are like season tickets at the ball park with many of the booths reserved by local companies every year to entertain employees and customers. To get a seat in one of the big beer tents, reservations are made directly with each tent proprietor. A directory of tent operators can be found at the Munich City site. But even if you don’t get a seat, there’s room to stand for awhile to enjoy the beer and atmosphere, until they get too crowded and close the doors. More contemporary music and high tech amusements mix with the traditional nostalgia throughout the 200 attractions, side shows and outdoor beer "gardens" where seating can be found as they become available.

The festival opens on a Saturday with a parade procession of festive carriages with the families of the landlords and horse drawn beer wagons representing the Munich breweries with decorated floats of Oktoberfest clubs, carrying all the beer tent bands. The parade is led by a girl on a horse dressed as a monk, the “Kindl” of Munich. The parade goes from Sonnenstrasse to the Wiesn. Grandstand seats can be had for about €24. Another parade follows on Sunday with the Munich Costume and Rifleman with more beer wagons, and colorful Bavarian costume, riflemen and historic coaches and performers. This impressive parade goes on for about two hours as it loops around the city to the fairgrounds. Grandstand tickets are €35 for this one, othewise just find a spot to stand along the route.

Munich Oktoberfest Dates

2008: September 20 - October 5
2009: September 19 - October 4
2010: September 18 - October 3
2011: September 17 - October 3

The Oktoberfest is not cheap, but special “Family Days” are held on Tuesdays from noon to 6pm with discounts for the fairground attractions. The fair opens at 10am weekdays and 9am weekends and closes at 11:30 every day. Bear Tents close at 10:30pm. The "Käfer Wiesn-Schänke" and the "Weinzelt" booths are open until 1am, last alcohol 12:15am. The beer tents are often sold out by noon on weekends, but open up again in the early evening as people start to stumble home. There is no car parking near the Weisn festival grounds, transportation is only U-Bahn and S-Bahn trains, street tram, bus, taxi or walking. The trains and everywhere else for Oktoberfest are decidedly crowded. For walking from a hotel look for rooms accommodation south of the Hauptbahnhof and west of Sendlingertor, but these are often completely booked well in advance. If you haven’t arranged all in advance, information brochures and accommodation availability can be checked at the Munich tourist offices at the Hauptbahnhof and at the Rathaus (the gingerbread town hall with the Glockenspiel) in Marienplatz. © Bargain Travel Europe

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These articles are copyrighted and the sole property of Bargain Travel Europe and WLPV, LLC. and may not be copied or reprinted without permission. Photos Courtesy Munich Tourism.

See Also:

PLATZL HOTEL MUNICH

GERMANY'S BLACK FOREST
More than Ham & Cuckoo Clocks

DEUTSCHES MUSEUM
Luftwaffe Memories

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