Let me tell you a tale of two Sundays.
Sunday morning #1! We woke up at 6:30 AM, excited for our first day at Oktoberfest, scarfed a big breakfast, and left for the Wiesn. Our lederhosen didn’t protect us much against the morning chill waiting in line, but by 9 AM we were safely within the cavernous Pschorr Bräurosl tent. For the next six hours we drank, talked with our group, stood on benches, sang, drank, replaced our empty beer steins with full ones, ordered roasted chickens, took it all in, and drank some more. Oktoberfest was amazing, full of life and noise and activity, all inside that one tent. The afternoon rolled around many beers, chickens, and prosits later, and we left to get our visiting friend to his train.
We didn’t make it. I spent the next few hours caring for a friend too sick to take a taxi, stuck in a plaza downtown until he felt well enough to rush home with me to make sure my unreachable husband hadn’t passed out face down in the bathtub. The rest of the day was spent nursing two wasted men back to a (miserable) equilibrium. The next day was miserable.
Intense? Yes. Memorable? Definitely. Good? Not really.
In the meantime, two weeks went by. We got better, we went back to Oktoberfest a few times, and then suddenly it was…
Sunday morning #2! We woke up early, ate a quick breakfast, donned our lederhosen, and took our visiting guests to the Oktoberfestgrounds. After waiting in line, we got into the cavernous Schottenhamel tent by 9 AM, and the beer started flowing. We ate and drank as much and more, sang, danced, wandered outside, and came back to the tent to stay until it closed. The day was great, and we had a blast. The next day was a good one — we even came back for a sunny walk through the Wiesn.
Intense? Yes. Memorable? Definitely. Good? Really.
If you’re coming to Munich this fall (and you should), this post’s for you. I hope our experiences last year can help you have an awesome time like our second Sunday’s and avoid the mistakes we made the first time. Oktoberfest is an amazing experience, and if done right you’ll love it. If not…well, trust me: you don’t want to be the guy puking in the central station in front of a crowd of disgusted Germans.
Tips
Stick around: the longer you stay, the more you can see. You can’t see all of Oktoberfest in one day; if your visit lasts three days instead of two, you can party the first day, relax, recover, and explore Munich the second, and head back the third (see also Get outside). Had we just been in Munich for a weekend, as our friend was, we would have left Bavaria thinking the Fest was just a big frat party.
Get outside: we were surprised to discover how much more there is at the Oktoberfests than the beer tents that dominate media coverage and popular imagination. You can ride roller coasters, watch horse races, eat at restaurants, play games, pet cows, and drink at outdoor biergartens — all in the sunlight and fresh air. (Plus there are tents dedicated to wine and dessert.) You can also climb the nearby church for a few Euros, which yields an amazing view at night. Don’t confine yourself to the beer tents; even if there’s a line when you leave, you’ll get back in. Over our five or six visits, we spent all but two outdoors. (See also Pet some animals.)
Beers are big: in everyday life we drink our beer in units — a pint glass, a bottle, a can, whatever. Make a conscious effort to break that habit at Oktoberfest, because the beer comes in 1 liter steins (a Maß) — each unit roughly three American bottles or two pints. Don’t try to drink it as you’d drink a beer back at home, or as fast as it seems like everyone else is. If you’re still working on the same glass of beer an hour after you get it, congratulations! You’re doing it the local way. (See also Peer pressure and Beer is strong.)
Marvel: the Wiesn is a wonder of human triumph over complexity: 6,400,000 visitors drinking 6,600,000 liters of beer, eating hundreds of thousands of chickens, using the toilet, mingling, all in safety, (relative) cleanliness, and at a pretty fair price. It’s amazing! Be amazed. Those tents you’re in, that are really full-on buildings? They were built just for this, and they disappear afterward. Those waitresses? They really are carrying 8 heavy liter-sized glasses of beer at a time. Those rides? They won’t be there in November. Those people? Like you, they’re here from all over the world. Lift your gaze up out of the beer occasionally and take it in.
Beer is strong: at Oktoberfest they brew the beer a few percentage points stronger, but it still tastes like regular beer. Combined with the size and the constant drinking, it’s really challenging to know how much you’ve drunk (see Beers are big and Peer pressure). Keep this in the back of your mind.
Be open: people are unusually friendly and open at Oktoberfest — take advantage of it! We had more conversations with random Germans (and others) in those three weeks than in the months before or after, on the subway, at the Wiesn, even in the supermarket. Be ready to make friends, and especially if you live in Munich, take a chance and ask if the people you meet want to get a beer later.
Pet some animals: last year we celebrated the 200th anniversary of the first Oktoberfest with an area reenacting the Oktoberfests of yore. Bier brew’d in the olde styl, much showmanship of horses, a zoological exhibition in which one maye pett the animales (reflecting the festivals’ agricultural origins) — it was so popular that it’s back this year. The Alte Wiesn is great complement to the more polished, commercial atmosphere elsewhere; sometimes it’s hard to get in, but the line is more than worth it — where else are you going to pet a horse and drink a beer at the same time? (See also Get outside.)
Peer pressure: look, you’re going to be in a tent with a thousand other people, some seasoned vets and some on their way to an experience like our first Sunday, all crammed side-to-side in every free space. It’s tremendously fun and energizing, but it’s also intimidating. Everywhere you look waitresses are rushing down the aisles delivering beer, and anytime you look around some of your co-revelers are swapping out empty glasses for new liters. There’s nothing wrong with getting into the spirit — just remember you can’t pace yourself by the activity around you. (See also Beer is strong and Beers are big.)
Preview tent life: despite all the pictures, my idea of what Oktoberfest is like was wide off the mark until by chance we picked up the movie Oktoberfest (sadly not available in the US). It’s a decent ensemble movie and an excellent primer to the festival. If you’ve never been, dig up some video (even if just the news) about what tent life is really like.
Eat: remember this if nothing else. There’s some delicious food at the Oktoberfest, and at decent prices (unlike many American festivals). Hendls (greasily delicious roasted half-chickens), crepes, currywurst, roasted almonds, kaiserschmarrn (German desert), and much, much more are all much tastier and fresher than you’d expect from such a big, packed festival. Not only is the food worth enjoying, it’ll help you handle all the drink, so eat up!
Stay safe: Munich is an unbelievably safe city, and Oktoberfest is well organized. Still, it’s a huge festival with hundreds of thousands of strangers passing through all the time. Don’t worry too much, but do be smart. Now that you know how to enjoy Oktoberfest, you should also read up on how to avoid problems while here.
Don’t eat Wiesn hearts: those famous gingerbread hearts are gifts, not food. They’re all stale. Always. They last forever. Bring a few home and put them up on your wall.
Wrapup
As you can tell, we’re very excited for the Wiesn this year — just six weeks away! — and we’re really looking forward to seeing everyone heading down here to Bavaria (especially all those coming for the Democrats Abroad weekend). If you have any additional thoughts or ideas from your experiences at Oktoberfest (or plans to come), I’d love to hear them in the comments.
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