Oh Oktoberfest, it’s a good thing you only come once a year. Munich’s celebration takes place in the large Theresienwiese fairground near downtown whose only function is for this annual event. Ever been to a state fair? This is sort of like that, but literally about 10 times bigger, with less agriculture and a LOT more beer. The panaroma pictures here are from just one corner of the whole thing. Everything is constructed in August for the big festival, and then torn back down in October. It’s immense.
Oktoberfest is basically a huge carnival with rides, trinket booths, games of chance, and food everywhere you turn. Bratwurst, chocolate covered fruits, smoked fish on a stick, popcorn, cotton candy, pasteries, pretzels and more.
But the fairgrounds are dominated by eight massive “tents” set up with thousands of tables and benches. If it has balconies, can it really still be called a tent? The tables are reserved for 2-4 hour stretches from 9am to 11pm, and you must reserve a table months in advance.
The beer comes in gigantic mugs (1 liter, called a mass or “measure”) and everyone is chugging. Eventually people are standing on the tables and benches, singing. All tents have a large bandstand in the middle (some have more than one) with traditional music (you know, “oompa oompa”) being played and people singing along drunkenly. Marcy swears some people get naked, although he says that’s usually just the New Zealanders. People are here from all over the world.
Although Aunt (“Tante”) Renate’s birthday party isn’t until tomorrow, by the time we got back home at 3:30pm much setup activity was already in motion, with Conny naturally in charge. A large tent was erected and tables and benches set up and decorated with Bavarian themes of edelweiss flower, lebkuchen, small pretzels and the iconic checkered blue and white Bavarian flags.
After the men-folk finished building the tent, they went off on a short drive around the countryside and Autobahn. The caravan of three cars was led by a Porsche 996, a 10-year-old 911 with a fairly obscene amount of horsepower and a demonic grip on the road. With Chris as ballast in the passenger seat, driver Marcy gave Chris his new land speed record: 270 km/h or 168 MPH. 250 km/h? Fine. 260 km/h? OK. 270 kmh? Hmmm, that’s a little scary now. Ludicrous speed!
Arrivals. Cousin Susann, her husband Peter and their children Serafin and Simon arrived in their minivan and camper trailer. Then cousin Teresa and her beau Nils. Then, much later and with much griping about traffic jams (“stau”), Aunt Gisela, cousin Winny and his wife Marianne. Much food and beer is consumed with the cousins joking and jabbing at each other.
Miscellaneous Bonus Pictures:
The impossible to describe whip cracking song (Goaßlschnalzen)
Oktoberfest!
“Beloved Devil” lebenkuchen, and chocolate covered strawberries with chile flakes.
Smoked fish
Creepy coffee stand
Horses bring in beer kegs
Bratwurst stand, in motion