Munich's
Oktoberfest has
its origins in the marriage
between the Bavarian Crown
Prince Ludwig (the future King
Ludwig I) and Princess Thérèse
of Saxe-Hildburghausen on
October 17, 1810. A massive fair
was held on the fields now named
after the princess, and it was
such a popular event that it has
been repeated annually ever
since, and has spawned
innumerable smaller imitations
throughout Germany. Nowadays,
it's quite simply an orgy of
beer-drinking, with upwards of
50,000 hectolitres consumed,
ensuring fabulous profits for
the brewers - and the publicans
lucky enough to be chosen as
landlords. Each of the seven
Munich breweries (Hacker-Pschorr
counting as two for this
purpose, even although Paulaner
now makes all the beers which
appear under the joint label)
has its own huge
tent ,
where in addition to beer,
bretzels, chicken halves,
sausages and pork knuckles are
sold. Visitors sit ten to a
bench, and after a few litres of
beer half the hall is singing
and dancing on the tables. There
are also a number of smaller
tents, which tend to be far less
boisterous and not so
overcrowded. The accompanying
fair
offers some great rides to churn
your guts, some so hairy that
they're banned in countries such
as the US.
Despite its name, the Oktoberfest
actually begins in September: it
lasts for sixteen days, always
ending on the first Sunday of
October. The traditional opening
ceremonies on the first
Saturday revolve around the
great horse-drawn brewery wagons
arriving at the fairground at
11am to the sound of brass bands
and much pomp and speech-making.
That evening, a folklore
concert is held in the
Circus-Krone-Bau, Marsstr. 43,
involving a selection of those
taking part in the big procession
the following day. It leaves
from the centre of town at 10am,
this time made up of hundreds of
traditional folklore groups,
marching bands, musicians,
jesters, commercial floats and
decorated horsemen that slowly
converge on the fairground. A
week later, a concert of all the
Oktoberfest bands is held
on the steps of the Bavaria
statue at 11am, though this is
postponed for a week if the
weather is poor.
The proportions of the fair
are so massive that the grounds
are divided along four main avenues
, creating a boisterous city of
its own, heaving with revellers
from morning till night.
Ostensibly a family affair, with
rides and stalls of every
description jostling for
customers, it attracts around
seven million visitors. Over
seventy percent of these come
from Bavaria and its immediate
vicinity; the rest are drawn
from all over the world, with
Australians, New Zealanders and
Italians forming the largest
foreign contingents. Things are
fairly relaxed during daylight
hours, and it's advisable to
visit at lunchtime if you want
to eat and drink in comfort, or
to avoid long queues for the
rides. However, the atmosphere
gets increasingly wild as the
evening wears on: many of the
big tents are packed to
overflowing, and at closing time
(around 11pm) staff have the
unenviable task of trying to
eject hundreds of fighting
drunks.
For information on the
opening ceremonies and pageants,
read the Monatsmagazin or
contact the tourist office;
advance tickets for the
folklore concert are available
from the organizers, Münchner
Festring, Pestalozzistr. 3a (tel
0 89/2 60 81 34). Even though
entrance to the grounds is free,
expect to spend lots of money. Accommodation
prices during this time are
often hiked up; on any of the
three weekends you'll have
trouble finding anything at all
if you haven't booked in
advance, while on weekdays only
middle- and upper-range hotels
are likely to have vacancies.
Many Munich women choose to
avoid the Oktoberfest
altogether, and it's probably
wise for unaccompanied women to
proceed with caution after dark,
avoiding the more raucous tents.
