Oktoberfest, Munchen (Munich) 2013

In our almost five years here, the largest Oktoberfest we have attended has been in Mannheim.  It is a lot of fun, and not really big at all.  We have toyed with the idea of going to Munich most years, but generally dismiss the thought almost as quickly as we have it, for fear that the crowds and costs would be too high.  This year, we were invited to attend as part of a corporate group, and so, armed with Lederhosen and Drindl off we went.

Dave in his brand new Lederhosen!

The group met at 2:00 pm at the La Villa hotel, with apologies for being a newer company, and therefore only able to get an afternoon time slot on a reserved table, not the more popular evening hours.  David and I both thought that an afternoon time slot would be best anyway: fewer crowds, less traffic leaving, etc.

We were handed green wrist bands to wear, which allowed us entry into the upper tier of the Hippodrome from 3:30 to 6:30, boarded a bus, and off we went. 

After about a half hour on the bus, we were dropped off a short walk away from the rear entry to the fest.  By 3:00, we were making our way, slowly through the outer, fair area.  It was a really fun and festive, family atmosphere, with probably half (or a little more) of the crowd in traditional attire, which totally added to the atmosphere.  There were lots of rides, including some pretty big ones, vendors selling lots of different foods (and at least a dozen selling the funny giant cookies that are so popular for this), as well as those selling souvenirs. 

All along the sides were the various beer tents, where you could go in (with or without tickets and reserved tables, it depends a bit on the tent) and party to live music while drinking beer by the liter.  It seemed every fairly good sized local brewery had a tent, and also had a lovely draft team and wagon on display.

At the far end, the main entrance side really, we arrived outside the building that started it all; the Hippodrome.  

We waited about ten minutes for our time slot to open up,

 and then headed inside

 and up to our reserved tables, which were cheerily decked out with a variety of snacks:

  The giant pretzels?  They seriously taste really, good.  Mmmmmm.  So did the white turnips (in the center), especially with a little salt on them.  Actually, it was all quite tasty. 

The tables were crammed in pretty tight.  Here you can see how close to the table we were sitting, and then below how close we were to those behind us! 

  But, it is all in good fun, and being close and making friends is a part of it.  Look how many people were down below (I am not sure if you can tell from the photo, but we estimated over 90% of those inside were in Lederhosen and Dirndls!  We are told this is a newer thing and that in the 70s and even 80s most people wore normal clothes, which would be much less fun).

Yes!  They really DO carry several very large and very heavy beers at once.  And, YES, it really is served by the liter.  

Here is David with one of his three (the reserved table included a minimum purchase of three drinks per person), and me with my, you guessed it, Coke!  

Yep, there I was at Oktoberfest drinking Coke, and later on water.  I was loving the atmosphere though, and had the right clothes.  I get some points for that don’t I???

Being in the upper section was nice.  We had pads on our wooden benches, which made the sitting much more comfortable,  It was also fun to be able to watch the people down below.  It was incredible to watch the change over when two sections had time slots ending at 5:30 and then restarting at 5:45.  It went from this:

To this:

In about 3 minutes!  Leave it to the Germans to have even a massive party on a seamless schedule. 

Throughout the three hours, the band played a variety of both older typically German music and newer pop tunes, etc.

  It was always festive and never too loud.  There were also several people wandering and selling souvenirs, much like at a circus.  There was Big sellers were jewelry and hats. 

I did buy one of the 2013 mugs to add to my glassware collection.  I love all of the bright colors.

(like the one I am holding in this photo--I borrowed a tablemate's beer to at least take a photo holding one!)

Three hours turned out to be about the perfect amount of time.  We really enjoyed it, but were getting tired of sitting there by about the time we needed to leave.  Excellent.

Our group did not have a bus, everyone was on their own after the Hippodrome, so we joined up with three locals, and headed out into the carnival parts for a bit.  Some rode a few rides, and those who know me will not be surprised to learn that I HAD to have some cotton candy. 

We walked around into a couple of the tents that you do not need a ticket to enter, and checked out the décor and music,

 before heading to the Schottenhamel tent to “make some friends who have a table” and enjoy the slightly less calm atmosphere.  

These locals certainly knew where the party was.  This tent, at the still early hour of 7:15ish was full of people standing on benches, singing along, etc. 

  It did not really feel overly chaotic though.  There was a lot of security, everyone seemed to respect the rules about staying out of lanes set up only for servers and not standing on tables (only benches), etc.  We were told it was okay to stand in the aisle way to have a beer, and next thing I knew a round of 5 had been ordered!  Well, now I had a beer.  

I guess that makes me a true attendee after all.  And, hey, I did manage to drink about a quarter of it on my own, which may well be the most beer I have ever had.

So we stood around drinking our beer, and toasting each other and random strangers, and singing along to various songs (two big hits were Stand By Me, which is appears every German knows and The Fligerlied which is a children’s song with actions; imagine a room full of drunk but orderly adults excitedly singing and acting out The Wheels on the Bus and you have pretty much the right idea).

Eventually, a group of Ford employees from Barcelona kindly offered that we join them at their table, and just like that I was standing on a bench, singing and toasting like a true fest goer.

(see, those are our feet up on the bench!)

About 20 minutes of standing on benches later, our ride called and was nearly there, which was perfect.  It was a LOT of fun, but half an hour or so in the party tent is also about all I could truly enjoy.  So, off we went, actually leaving through the main entrance, so I did finally get a shot of it. 

All I all, we had a GREAT time.  Having the corporate table was awesome, but we also now feel that it would be possible to attend (at least on a weeknight and early) with no reservations anywhere and still have a nice time and not spend too much money (BTW, those liter beers?  10 Euro each).  One thing that made it so nice was that no smoking was allowed in any of the beer tents, which makes them much nicer to be in for someone like me who is easily bothered by smoke.  I was very happy to see that.

--Hadley