Day 2 - Oktoberfest!

I will try my best to describe Oktoberfest. It is an experience. And should be on everyone’s bucket list to do at least once. 

Standing in front of the first beer tent.

Oktoberfest is the world's largest funfair held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It is a 16-day festival running from late September to the first weekend in October with more than 6 million people from around the world attending the event every year. Locally, it is called Wiesn, after the colloquial name of the fairgrounds (Theresienwiese). Oktoberfest is an important part of Bavarian culture, staring in 1810. It is similar to the Washington state fair but with 7 million liters of beer served during two weeks.

We arrived around three in the afternoon. It felt like I was at the Puyallup Fair without the farm animals. Big ferris wheel, lots of carnival rides, side booths games and fair food. However, you won’t find deep fried butter but booths selling traditional food such as Hendl (roast chicken), Schweinebraten (roast pork), Schweinshaxe (grilled ham hock), Steckerlfisch (grilled fish on a stick), Würstl (sausages) along with Brezen (pretzel), Knödel (potato or bread dumplings), Käsespätzle (cheese noodles), Reiberdatschi (potato pancakes),  and Sauerkraut. It all looks and smells amazing! 

To drink at the Oktoberfest, one must enter a tent. The fourteen tents are lined up on “tent street” and have different themes. Some tents are for the young, the old, the traditonalist, the rich and famous, etc. The tents can vary in size but hold between 3K to 10K people. The tents open at 9 AM and every table is filled by 9:05 AM. In the middle of the tent is the band. The band is on a high platform and plays traditional Bavarian folk songs, beer songs and many English songs (so not all is lost on this non-speaking German.) The music is quiet so families can enjoy each other until 6 PM and then they ramp it up. We arrived after 3 PM and the tent we needed to enter was closed. This means the tent was at capacity and the lines were starting. Samantha took us to a side entrance and with her charming smile and Bavarian accent, we were allowed in. The tent has tables with benches and it is packed. You must find a table to sit at in order to be served beer. We wandered around, or more like, squeezed between folks in the aisles and ask men if they would be willing to take two fräuleins. We found a table of Swiss guys close to the band in the center of the tent. We ordered Radlers. Radler is a 50:50 mixture of beer and German-style lemonade (not American-style lemonade, but sparkling lemon soda, similar to Sprite) and chicken for dinner. 

Samantha said it’s important to eat something so the beer doesn’t hit us too quickly. She explained the chicken is amazing because they breed this chicken especially for Oktoberfest. They are bigger than regular chickens you get around town and very fresh. It is the best chicken I’ve ever had - incredibly moist, juicy and amazing flavor. We also ordered the pretzel which they make in giant form just for Oktoberfest. I swear Jim Sinegal from Costco must have done his research from his Oktoberfest experience. 

The gorgeous Samantha and me enjoying Radlers.

Some of the Swiss Boys

Notice the socks on the calf - this is the summer
sock worn with Lederhosen

Samantha and I sat down to eat our meal with everyone standing around us. This is perfectly normal although it felt odd. When you are at a table close to the band, everyone stands on the benches once the music starts. Some folks stand before the music starts but everyone stands when the music plays. It’s like being at a Sounder’s Soccer match where you stand for 90 minutes. However, at Oktoberfest you stand for hours on benches, drink beer and sing songs at the same time.

We went to a different tent at 7 to meet up with Torsten. His office had reserved tables which is incredibly difficult task. You must reserve a year in advance and it’s a lottery system. Samantha and I found another table close to the band since Torsten’s table was in the balcony and standing on benches is verboten. The table was full of Americans; California, Arizona, Ohio and New York and one Norwegian. Rumor has it, the Americans cannot handle the stronger beer. As one of the Swiss boys said, “Americans think this is a sprint when a marathon is needed.” I’m happy to report, it was the Norwegian who vomited. We left to find another table.

Samantha translated most of the songs for me. The traditional folks songs are in old German and difficult to translate into German but she did her best. No one sang the “Beer Here” song but I did learn a new one, “Ein Prosit, ein Prosit , Der Gemütlichkeit , Ein Prosit, ein Prosit , Der Gemütlichkeit. OANS ZWOA DREI! G'SUFFA!” Translated, “A toast, a toast, To cheer and good times, A toast, a toast, To cheer and good times. ONE TWO THREE! DRINK UP!” The song is played every 20 minutes so everyone is good and lubricated.

They stop serving beer at 10:30 and the tents close at 11 PM. Lots of folks had been there since 9 AM. It is amazing to me how the Germans can stand on benches, drink beer, sing songs and not fall down. Standing on the tables is strictly forbidden, however, one can put a foot on the table to avoid falling. There were a few domino affects of falling folks but then everyone gets back up on the bench and resumes drinking and singing like nothing happened. Shocklngly, there are very few fights in the tents. If caught fighting, you are kicked out and because the lines are very long there is no possible way to get back in.

We got home around midnight with tired legs and sore feet. We’ll head to Oktoberfest again on Sunday.

This is a gingerbread cookie. It transaltes to "hot woman".