Munich / Oktoberfest

Bier.  Lederhosen.  Dirndl.

We’re back from the 179th Munich Oktoberfest (“Festwiese” or “Fest” to the locals), which was truly the mother of all beer festivals!   Interesting tid-bit, the construction for the festival starts in June and takes about three months to complete.  It’s the world's largest beer festival, held this year from Sept. 22 to Oct. 7 (we went on the last weekend), and attracts more than six million people from around the world.  It’s said that on any given day, there are over 100,000 people drinking at the Fest, wow!  And the vast majority of the party-goers wear traditional attire, which is quite festive.

The Octoberfest hearts are a popular tradition amongst all age groups - both to give and receive (with various mottos).  They're like huge necklaces, and so many people were wearing them.  I thought they were edible, like a big gingerbread cookie, but I guess not!

There are several different tents to choose from, and each tent has its own mood and decoration.  Since the festival is so popular with locals and tourists, the question really is – “where can we get a seat?”  I definitely wanted to go into at least one of the 14 “big tents” that hold up to 10,000 people.  We had looked into the reservation process online, but you pay for the whole table, and since we weren’t with a group or anything, it didn’t make a lot of sense.  We were also advised that with 2 people, we didn’t need a reservation and to just try to get into a tent, then wait patiently until people got up and left.  However, on the weekend, it’s more difficult than it sounds – people literally stay all day and you cannot even get into the tent!  

Beer tents at night:

 

 

We knew Oktoberfest would be crowded, especially on the weekend, but it was a complete and total zoo!  We passed a lot of loud, drunk and rowdy people (as well as a few who were literally passed out against the beer tent).  When we arrived on Friday it was around 9PM so all the beer tents were full/closed, with no hope of getting in.  Basically, when the doors of the beer hall are closed, you ain’t getting in. You just huddle behind the red tape in front of the security guards/bouncers and hold up the number of fingers in your party with the hope that when/if people come out, they’ll let you in. It’s controlled chaos.

We noticed the security guards letting some people in at Löwenbräu, so we tried our luck. The tent was closed, but we got into the biergarten. It was jam-packed as well, but we found 2 seats at the end of a table of mid 20-somethings decked out in lederhosen and dirndls. The rule of thumb is that it's polite to ask before sitting down. They were quite drunk, but were okay with us joining (unless their friends came back, in which case we’d have to move).   And yes, you take a seat where you can get it, so can't be too picky.  Their friend came back, but we just squeezed him in and were able to stay.  The group quickly warmed up to Matt’s charm and we were all quickly friends, at least for the next hour and a half until we all left. The group spoke English fluently (even after several liters of beer).  Apparently, they had arrived at 2PM and had been drinking ever since!  We ordered our “zwei mass bier” and joined the fun - there was a good deal of singing and chanting.  Note, the beers come in only the “mass” 1 liter size, there is no “small” beer here!

Man, those beer steins are heavy!  It’s very impressive to see the waiters and waitresses carrying upwards of 12 full beer steins at one time, sometimes stacked on top of each other (don’t know how they do it).

We got a bit of a late start on Saturday (my fault) and headed to the festival at lunchtime.  It was a glorious sunny day to boot, what a treat!  We waited in the crowded huddle outside a big tent for about 1/2 hour, but no one was coming out, thus no one was getting in.  We gave up and decided to walk around the old town (Marienplatz) instead, which is quite lovely and car-free.  We saw all the highlights and were also able to watch the Glockenspiel in the Town Hall chime at 5PM, at which time 32 life-sized figures re-enacted Bavarian events from the 16th century (no clue what exactly, but there were figures jousting that went around a couple of times, along with some jokers and musicians!)

On Saturday night, I stopped in a big traditional clothing store in the old town and tried on several dresses (dirndls, white blouses, and pinafore/aprons).  It’s quite a process, so many different styles etc., who knew!  I felt like we stood about a bit as the vast majority of people dress up for the Fest, but for the high price, nothing seemed quite right, so my city clothes would just have to do.  (Some of the Lufthansa staff dressed up at the airport, and there was even a group on 4 adults on my flight back to Basel wearing the traditional apparel).

Heading to the tents on Sunday morning ended up working out in our favor.  We woke up bright and early to torrential downpour, but wouldn’t let the dreary weather dampen our spirits. I previously saw pictures of the Hacker-Pschorr tent online and thought the cloud ceiling looked pretty, and it holds 9,300 people, woo hoo, so I put it at the top of my list. 

On our way to the festival, a guy from Seoul asked us for directions.  I swear, we are always getting asked for directions when we travel?!  He was on a 3-month trip across Europe and we ended up walking and talking with him on the way to the festival.  Unfortunately, he had a backpack and wasn’t allowed to go into the tent with us, but we were able to walk right in.  Oh my goodness, we were finally IN and we were really excited!  It was huge and bustling and very festive.  However, the place was already teeming with lederhosen and dirndl-clad attendees, and mind you it was only 9:00 in the morning on a Sunday!  We found a table holding 2 couples and joined the group.  Although it was early, we ordered our “masskrug” but didn’t drink a lot, just mostly enjoyed the atmosphere.  A woman who was with her parents also joined our table of 6 (they were all dressed up as well).  The Fest makes for good people-watching, that's for sure!  They described some of the songs and traditions with us.

Ok, the proof.  9:30 and yes, that's AM.  Bottoms up!

 

Because of its decoration (blue sky with white clouds in the Bavarian colors), this beer tent is also called “Himmel der Bayern” (Heaven for Bavarians).  Supposedly, the music here is more traditional and the main audience is people from the countryside around Munich.

 

Once in a while, groups would break out in song, or someone would stand on the bench and drink his/her entire beer as quickly as possible while everyone cheered. And in the middle, there was a traditional brass band, which also livened things up.

We were actually able to pop in and see several tents on Sunday (just to take a peek and snap some photos). The doors at most of the tents were open, indicating they were not yet full/closed. The tents are really amazing – each a bit different from the next, but all very colorful and crowded with happy, beer-guzzling patrons and lively music.

 

Before our departure back to the airport, we had lunch at the Augustiner Bierhalle, which has a vast selection of Augstiner beer, Munich’s oldest independent brewery (circa 1328). We didn’t sample anything though, just had coke and sprite!  It was dark and cozy and warm on the inside, which was a perfect match for the cold and rainy weather outside.

 

Local joke - After work, all the brew masters from the Munich breweries sit together in a pub. Needless to say, each brewer orders beer from his own brand, i.e. the Löwenbräu guy orders Löwenbräu, the Hacker-Pschorr guy orders a Hacker, and so on.  Last one to go is the Augustiner guy.  He orders a Coke. Everybody is stunned, asking – “Why?” – “Well”, he finally says with a wide grin, “if you are not ordering any beers, then I won’t, too.