Oktoberfest - Munich, Germany

"Welcome to Oktoberfest"

A few weeks ago, one of my good friends gave me a call and gave me some of the best news of my stay here in Germany: She had space for me to join her to the legendary Oktoberfest. The reason this excited me so much was the mere fact that I even had a place to stay. Usually, hotels and tent reservations are made almost a year in advance,given the sheer amount of people that attend this festival, but I was lucky enough to be able to join her, her boyfriend, and few others at an apartment for the weekend.

This trip unfortunately cannot be summed as well in words as it can pictures. Try looking at the following and just imagine yourself immersed with hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world, dressed in typical Oktoberfest clothing, standing on tops of chairs, benches, and tables, holding one liter beers, and dancing to cultural German Oktoberfest music.

In preparation for the festival, I attended a somewhat mock party here in Mannheim, where free entrance was given to those who wore the typical Oktoberfest clothing: "Lederhosen" for men, and "Dirndl" for women. I was able to borrow from a friend, since these things cost about 150-200 euros each. What I didn't know was that people actually DID where these to the real Oktoberfest. I thought at first that it was just quite ludicrous. I thought that you would absolutely stand out at the festival when wearing these.

My friend Zach and I wearing the traditional "Lederhosen."

Cassandra between us wearing the "Dirndl."

When I took the three hour train ride south to Munich, I slowly began to see that it was quite the opposite. At a certain point, almost half the entire train held people wearing these things, and now I was the one who stood out.

When I arrived, I met my friend at the station, went back to the apartment, and immediately began getting ready for the festival. The best times to get a seat in one of the 14 tents are at hours that you wouldn't expect. In fact, it's best to go early in the morning. However, we were able to find a seat in one of the tents, and it was absolutely crazy. Thousands of people, all squeezed together on tiny tables, with one liter maas beers in hand; many of them heavily under the influence. Traditional Oktoberfest music was playing, and almost the entire population of the tent was standing on the benches and dancing. You would never find such a thing at home...

A view outside the Shottenhamel Spatenbräu Tent, the one we spend most of our time in.

A view inside the Bräurosl Tent, with thousands of people standing and drinking.



A view from inside another tent, with more people sitting than standing (which is unsual).



And of course, the waiters and waitresses were also quite skilled, carrying many of these one liter "Maas" beers at once.

Most of my time in Munich was dedicated to this, spending five hours the first night, and eleven hours on Saturday. Along with the beers, it is also traditional to order chicken as a meal. This, and the beers, were very expensive, and I think it's meant to be that way, since most people who begin to be heavily drunk will not care how much they are spending. I tried avoiding this as much as possible, but I will admit that it was very hard to turn down a one liter beer whenever I was offered...

Me with a Maas.

Everyone at this festival is friendly. I found myself toasting with strangers, breaking one of my glasses given how hard we "Prost"ed.

Unless you accidently fall off the bench or table into another person, the people there are overall very nice and fun to be around, even if they are complete strangers. We were all there for one purpose, to drink beer and enjoy ourselves. Most people cannot complain with that. The festival was not only 14 tents, but also almost an amusement park, with hundreds of souvenir stands and stands with items cultural to Germany and more specifically Oktoberfest. There were also rides, such as a rollercoaster, and a dropzone type ride. There had to have been hundreds of thousands of people, no matter what time of the day I was there. People will sometimes be at this festival at seven o'clock in the morning and drink until eleven at night. I really have no words to describe this festival, the legendary Oktoberfest.

The festival from above.

It was hard for me at times to grasp that I was actually there, It's one of those things when I would always tell people, "I'm studying abroad in Germany this coming year," and the people would respond, "So you will be going to Oktoberfest, right?" It was probably the most frequently asked question among my friends right after I told that I would be here. I was very lucky to be able to experience such a crazy, unbelievable festival. I was proud of myself as I took the miserable, sickly hungover train ride back to Mannheim. I can now say that I've been to the world's largest wine AND beer festivals. For me, that this is the type of thing that I will share with my family when I grow old. Next time though, I hope to wear the "Lederhosen" when it really matters...

"Goodbye!"