OKTOBERFEST is one of those ‘must do at least once in my life’ events that travellers from Australia and all over the world flock to every year. Here we offer you a complete guide to what Oktoberfest’s all about, how to do it, and some of the best Oktoberfest travel deals.
WHAT: Only the biggest festival in the WORLD! Last year 6.5 million revellers celebrated the Oktoberfest’s 200 year anniversary. Though the festival started as a one-off celebration of a royal wedding, it gradually grew into a horse race, then an agricultural festival and eventually blew up into the veritable orgy of food, fun and beer that it is now!
WHO: According to data from previous festivals, 72% of the attendees are local Bavarians and approx 15% are foreigners, yeah, that means you Aussies too! You’ll find plenty of antipodean brethren, especially at the Hofbräu tent.
WHERE: Oktoberfest is held in Munich, Bavaria, the southernmost state of Germany. Specifically it is held in a large flat grass area in the centre of town called Thereisienwiese where 14 large tents and 20 small tents are erected, some of them requiring 3 months to set up.
WHEN: This year the beer festival will open with the mayor’s tapping of the first beer barrel at 12:00 on Saturday September 17 and close with a traditional gun salute at 12:00 Monday October 3 2011.
During the week the opening hours are 9am – 11.30pm, on weekends 10am – 11.30pm. Last orders are at 10.30pm unless you are at the wine tent, which opens till 1am. If you haven’t got a tent reservation (which you probably don’t), aim to be at the fest by 10am on the weekend and 3pm during the week to nab a spot.
HOW: Reservations for the beer tents, which are sold by whole tables and by buying food and drink coupon beforehand, usually sell out months in advance. Therefore the majority of festival goers just wing it – you can enter a tent without a reservation and you will just have to vie for the few spare seats. Outside in the beer garden is where you’ll find most of the seats – it’s also the only place where you can smoke.
Though the hotels and hostels of Munich book up way in advance (not to mention hike their prices up) there are official campsites within a few kms of the festival, with bus transport available. The most popular are Campground Obermenzing or Campground Thalkirchen, both of which take no reservations and are first come first serve, BYO tent.
If you have no tent a good option is the Weisn Camp, a dedicated Oktoberfest Campsite where you can rent a tent or caravan from 48€ per night for up to 4 people. For flights check easyJet and Air Berlin. Once in Munich, the U-Bahn (subway) line U6 runs to the stop ‘Poccistrasse’ every 24 minutes, which is about a 10-minute walk to the Oktoberfest venue.
WHY?: Are you kidding? Munich is not only a brilliant place for drinking beer, but it also offers Aussies a chance to catch up with like-minded mates! So when you are chugging down a pint of Hofbräu, remember where you read about this awesome festival!
Also see: Oktoberfest survival kit and the infamous 100 Club at Oktoberfest
OKTOBERFEST PACKAGES:
Loads of companies offer Oktoberfest packages, most of which include return coach travel from London and camping just outside of Munich.
TOPDECK: 7 days, departing 26 or 27 September, includes coach, camping and hostel accommodation, free shuttle to Oktoberfest and a side day trip to Prague for £269. See www.topdeck.travel/festivals/oktoberfest-tours
CONTIKI: Offer a 5 day trip, departs September 22 or 27, includes coach travel and camping from £239 or the 7 day trip departing September 15 and costing £299. See www.contiki.co.uk/oktoberfest
BUSABOUT: Offer the classic 6 day coach travel/camping package for £279 but they also offer the handy option of (camping) accommodation only for £139 AND a more upmarket package that includes return flights and hostel accommodation for £529 – all trips include a day trip to Swan Lake and Neuschwanstein Castle. See www.busabout.com/festivals/oktoberfest
PP TRAVEL: Run tours over the entire 17 days of the fest and have been the largest tour operator out of the UK for many years. They run coach/camping tours to each of the 3 weekends of the fest, run a large accommodation only operation out the city’s main campsite – Thalkirchen – and have city centre hotel packages over each weekend. Prices start at £209. See www.pptravel.com/oktoberfest
STOKE TRAVEL: Offer tent and breakfast and bbq and shuttle packages for 50 euros a day. Check out www.stoketravel.com/oktoberfest.htm
PILLOW: Specialise in 6 day coach tours from £209 or can do accommodation only for just £35pppn. For details, go to www.pillow.co.uk/munich-beer-festival-oktoberfest
BEER AND FOOD GUIDE:
There are only 6 official Oktoberfest breweries; the beer they produce especially for Oktoberfest is made extra strong and easy on the palate. Get to know them well:
- Augustiner-Bräu
- Löwenbräu
- Hofbräu
- Paulaner
- Spaten
- Hacker-Pschorr
If you’re not a huge beer drinker (besides ‘what the hell are you doing here?’) there IS a special wine tent as well as other tents offering cocktails and other beverages. Or if you fancy a chandy ask for a ‘radler’, but don’t tell your friends.
Some of the food you will be stuffing in your mouth will be:
- Brezn: Pretzel
- Steckerlfisch: Fish-on-a-stick
- Hendl: chicken
- Schweinebraten: roast pork
- Würstl: sausages
- Ochsenbraterei: roast ox
- Sorry vegetarians. Did we mention there’s 6 kinds of beer?
BEER DICTIONARY:
The German language is fantastic, often summarising in one word what it takes a sentence to say in English. Here are a few Germanisms that may come in handy;
- Bierleichen: people so drunk they’ve passed out; literally translates to ‘beer corpses’
- Aufstöin: to donate a beer.
- Bierdimpfe: notorious beer drinker, “tavern potato”.
- Eihebn: if you’re dizzy because of too much beer, you have to cling to something.
- Fingahackln; Bavarian sport. Two men hook their middle fingers and try to pull the opponent over the table. Popular activity at the Oktoberfest.
- Gaudinockerln: luxuriant breasts
- Noagerlzuzla: person who drinks the last remainders from abandoned glasses, also used as a cuss.
- Oabischwoam: to solve a fight through drinking, a much better alternative than letting the fist do the talking, at the Oktoberfest as well as elsewhere.
- Pratzn: snide term for a (large) hand.
Sourced from www.oktoberfest.de/en
[ Source: Australian Times ]