OKTOBERFEST BEER FESTIVAL - 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
drindle 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 203 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 in 1810 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”, now a permanent site just southwest of the old city and a subway stop away from the main Bahnhof railway station.
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 (two weeks). Cities and towns all
across Germany have their own versions of the October Festival focused
on
beer, like
in Stuttgart (see Stuttgart
Canstatter Festivals) or wine like Bad Durkheim (see Wine
and Sausage Festival).
What makes Munich’s Oktoberfest the grand daddy of them all are
the beer tents, each sponsored by the brewer. A bit of a
misnomer, because many of 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 are based on reservations (see Getting a Seat at Oktoberfest). For a guaranteed seat, get a reservation, but for the individual traveler, couple or family, reservations are for groups. 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.
There are seats without reservations, but you might have to stand in line. Go early, by 3 or 4 pm or so before they fill up. They often close the tents for seating by 6 pm. Or go late after people have started to waddle home and seats open up. But even if you don’t get a seat, there’s room to stand for awhile to enjoy the atmosphere, until they get too crowded and close the doors, but they won't serve you beer without a seat. 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, otherwise just find a spot to stand along
the route.
Munich
Oktoberfest Dates: September 17 - October 2, 2016
Munich's Octoberfest 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. Beer 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 just about everywhere else are decidedly crowded for Oktoberfest. 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
Compare best hotel deals in Munich at Trip Advisor
German High Speed Train ICE
Booking Center
Web
Info
Munich Tourism Office
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:
MUNICH BEER & OKTOBERFEST MUSEUM
200 YEARS OF THE GERMAN BEER GARDEN
PLATZL HOTEL MUNICHGERMANY'S BLACK FOREST
DEUTSCHES MUSEUM
