If you like beer, then there is no place like Oktoberfest in Munich. It is hard to describe Oktoberfest to those who haven’t been there. Simply said, it’s an ultimate beer festival (actually one of the biggest public festivals in the world, according to Guiness World Record) held in the ultimate beer-drinking destination, Munich (..my friend from Milwaukee still thinks Milwaukee is the beer capital of the world). The celebration begins mid September and ends on first Sunday in October spanning almost 2 wks. The first Oktoberfest was held in the year 1810 in honor of Prince Ludwig’s marriage to Princess Therese. Although the festival used to be celebrated in October, they moved it up to September to allow for better weather conditions. Some 6 million people drink 6 million litres of beer each year inside 14 humongous tents that can hold 5000 – 6000 people, drinking, singing and dancing to folk/polka tunes. There are also other things like rides (Olympic circle ride, try that after couple of liters of beer in your body, interesting experience), games, sing-alongs etc., Men dressed in Lederhosen and women in their traditional Bavarian outfit are a common site. Since this festival is all about beer, as expected people tend to drink in excess and as always things get out of hand, fist fights and 1 liter beer glass breaking. I did not witness any of those, may be the police are so efficient in quickly suppressing such incidents or I was not in a position to observe such minor ruckus.
All in all, Oktoberfest is something that everyone should experience in his or her life, at least once. As far me, I would definitely go there, for a third time, given a chance.
“Bitte Ein Beer”
