What to look forward to in the world’s largest beer festival, Oktoberfest that began last weekend.
Locals know the Munich Oktoberfest as the world’s largest Stadtfest (meaning “city festival”) but to just about everybody else on the planet, it’s simply the globe’s biggest beer festival. Last year, in just over a fortnight, more that 64 lakh people visited the event and drank 74 lakh one-litre tankards of beer.
The Oktoberfest, which began last week, is one of the world’s greatest parties and has something for people of all ages. In part it’s a funfair, with fairground rides and rollercoasters, but more than anything else, it’s a celebration of Bavarian heritage and local produce, with Munich’s beer being the golden liquid that keeps the visitors glued to this huge logistical machine.
Last year 1,15,015 pairs of sausages, 58,697 pork knuckles and 5,08,958 portions of roast chicken were cooked and served during the Oktoberfest. Most of those were consumed by locals coming here to meet, dine and dance with colleagues and friends; each year local companies and clubs reserve swathes of tables within the 14 festival tents. Yet with a total of more than 1,14,000 seats available across the festival site, there’s still space for visitors.
On arriving you’ll soon notice that the term tent is misleading. The majority of the Oktoberfest’s food and drink is served in cavernous semi-permanent structures that, in some cases, have two floors and beer gardens. The process of building the tents starts mid-summer. The largest of the ‘tents’ is the HofbraeuFestzelt, which has 10,000 seats plus a central standing (and swaying) area near the podium on which bands plays tunes ranging from wistful ballads to up-beat pop songs.
The decor and character of each tent is different, so if you’ve got time, pop in for a look. Within the Hofbraeu-Festzelt, a model of Aloisius the Angel revolves from the ceiling, depicting a character from a local myth about somebody who slips down from heaven for a beer or two each day.
Even though each tent has thousands of seats it makes sense to arrive by mid-afternoon, if you want to sit. Leaving it later means you’ll run the risk of being locked out. By 4 pm the tents are usually very busy.
That’s not all bad though, as not gaining entrance gives you an opportunity to take a stroll around the busy site of the Oktoberfest, an area known as the Theresienwiese. In English that means “Therese’s meadow” honouring Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen, who married Crown-Prince Ludwig of Bavaria on 12 October 1810. As part of their wedding celebrations horse racing was held on the site where the festival tents now stand. The inaugural event proved so popular that it was repeated on their anniversary and became a tradition. This year sees the 180th Oktoberfest, several having been skipped due to war, post-war periods of austerity and a couple of cholera epidemics back in the 19th century.
Many visitors to the Oktoberfest wonder why it now traditionally starts on the penultimate weekend in September rather than in October. The answer is simple; holding the Oktoberfest a couple of weeks earlier increases the likelihood that people are able to enjoy the event during good, sunny weather.
For locals, the Oktoberfest is an opportunity to celebrate being Bavarian and don traditional costumes. Women wear figure enhancing dresses known as Dirndls while the men pull on their Lederhosen, meaning “leather trousers”. Bavaria is part of Germany but, simultaneously, has a distinct identity and you’ll hear the state’s dialect at its lilting broadest after a beer or two.
Beware, you can’t wander into a tent and order any beer you like. All of the beer served at the Oktoberfest is produced by six breweries with long associations with Munich and brewed in accordance with the Bavarian purity law of 1516. Every year the Augustiner, Hacker-Pschorr, Hofbreau, Lowenbraeu, Paulaner and Spaten breweries develop their own special brews for the Oktoberfest.
At around six per cent alcohol by volume it’s a touch stronger than their normal drop. It’s golden in colour, crisp in taste and slips down well. Each visitor to the Oktoberfest has to be responsible in what they imbibe and decide what, for themselves, constitutes their ‘critical mass’; a ‘Mass’ being the term for the one litre measure of beer served in the tents.
Arguably the best place to appreciate the layout of the Theresienwiese is up on steps by the 18.5m tall Neo-classical statue of Bavaria or in one of the cars of the giant ferris wheel that turns slowly throughout the day.
On both you can smell the aroma of cinnamon and sugar coated nuts roasting at stands and the gorgeous waft of cooking food.
It’s then hard to resist hunger pangs. Crispy skinned Hendl (slow roasted chicken) and Steckerlfisch (charcoal grilled fish) are two popular Oktoberfest dishes.
Unfortunately, the options for vegetarians are distinctly limited. A heart-shaped Brez’n bread might tide you over; young women wander around, selling them freshly baked.
Be prepared: the Oktoberfest is colourful, lively and can be a lot of fun. You can spend the day at the funfair or chatting in a beer garden. It’s also a great place to take photos while you’re among Bavarians letting their hair down and enjoying a taste of their own heritage.
THE OKTOBERFEST
Munich’s Oktoberfest runs from 21 September until 6 October 2013. Entry to the Oktoberfest is free. A one litre beer costs between 9.40 ( 807) and 9.85 ( 845) depending on the tent, with waiters and waitresses expecting guests to tip by at least rounding up to the nearest Euro. The last beers of the day are served at 10.30 pm.
GETTING THERE
Lufthansa flies direct between Mumbai and Munich; Indian visitors must acquire a Schengen visa before travelling to Germany.
ACCOMMODATION
Eurostars Grand Hotel Munich (Arnulfstrasse 35, tel. +49 89 5165740, www.eurostarsgrandcentral. com) is a smart, fourstar contemporary design hotel. Rooms cost from 134.
The 396-room Sofitel Munich Beyerpost (http://www.sofitel.com/gb/hotel-5413-sofitel-munichbayerpost/index.shtml) is an elegant five-star hotel in a historic Wilhelmian building, centrally located by Munich’s main railways station. Rooms cost from 168
USEFUL WEBSITES
www.oktoberfest.info
www.muenchen.de
www.germany.travel