For three weeks at the end of September and the beginning of October the world's largest fair convenes in Munich. Over six million attended the most recent Oktoberfest showing how famous it is in the world and how important it is to the city of Munich.
It began in 1810 as a wedding celebration for the crown-prince of Bavaria. With the exception of a few years with war, plague, or economic disaster the festival has been held every year since then. Carnival booths, beer halls, and music have always been integral parts of the event; and up until 1960 horse racing was also a tradition here.
Of course the main attraction to this event today is the beer. Munich is a world-famous beer brewery town and it is here that the big six brewers get their day to shine.
Because I don't drink, the attraction for me was simply to wander through and see the people and witness a bit of this renowned fair.
Walking through Oktoberfest, one sees a great many people dressed in traditional costumes, such as lederhos'n (for the men) and dirnd'ls (for the women). A babel of languages can be heard spoken all around you. One also sees a great deal of drunkeness. It is like if Disneyland were to combine "It's a Small World" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" into one bizarre ride.
Even outside the Oktoberfest grounds it was a common site to see people dressed in lederhos'n or a dirnd'l while on the U-bahn or walking down the street. For the first Sunday of Oktoberfest, several church-members even came to church in their best lederhos'n or dirnd'l.
Bavarians wear their dress with pride!
On the openning day of Oktoberfest there were celebrations all throughout Munich. Walking downtown one saw (and heard) brass bands...
..and people doing crazy stuff just to get attention....
I decided to visit the "Wies'n" ("field" or "meadow," short for "Theresienwiese" where the event is held,) that evening and knew that I would have to deal with some crowds. I had no idea.
Here is the U-bahn station at Thereseinwiese...
I came out of the escalator to one of the largest masses of people I had ever seen.
Rides, games, food stands, and of course, beer tents lined and circled the Wies'n with glaciers of people moving back and forth in between.
Bier und Bratwurst! (and cupid pointing to the loo)...
In front of the Spaten tent was a large mechanical ox on the spit: traditional food for such an event.
News cameras and reporters had trouble filming in the dense crowd...
The fun house (with what I think are dancing salamis inside)...
The FAHRT ZUR HÖLLE!
(translated to something less vulgar looking: "Ride Through Hell!")
The shooting galery...
Mr. Maize...
It also reminded me a bit of Pleasure Island from Pinocchio. Some people even turned into asses!
The Alpinabahn...
"Come ride my ride, or are you a GIRLY MAN!?..."
Rides were rather expensive so I didn't go on any, but they looked fun...
One of the Oktoberfest traditions is to buy your sweetheart a large, hear-shaped, gingerbread cookie with something sappy written on the front...
You then have to wear it around your neck...
In the distance you can see the statue of "Bavaria" watching over the fest.
The view from below the statue with the Sorting Hat to my right...
There were huge lines in front of all the beer tents and in many cases you needed to reserve a seat long in advance; thus I didn't make it inside any of the tents.
The signs for the bathroom were entertaining...
Though this guy couldn't quite find one... HEY GUY: IT'S THE DOOR RIGHT NEXT TO YOU! (really!)
A knight receiving his quest!
This is one of the many people passed out around the grounds. These kids thought it was pretty funny and were all taking cell phone photos of him. There's a crew that goes around picks up the drunk people on stretchers and puts them all together in a tent until they wake up.
Outside the Wies'n others were getting into the action. Here are some African musicians...
And some Indians...
Indians in leather and Bavarians in leder...
On Sunday (the second day of Oktoberfest) there is a grand parade in the morning. Because the Wies'n and the parade are all only a block away from the LDS Church, we had to rearrange our schedule a little bit. The two wards that meet in the building combined and met early. We also finished early because of all the noise outside.
The parade started during sacrament meeting. I was helping to pass the sacrament and at the end when I was walking up the aisle from the back of the chapel a march began playing outside and I felt like I was part of the parade!
After church, I went out with a few others to watch the parade go by.
It featured many troupes of people from different parts of Bavaria all sporting their regional costumes. Most were variations on the dirnd'l/lederhos'n, but not all...
Crossbowmen...
Other nationalities with communities in Munich were also represented. Slovenians...
There were many bands all playing traditional music...
Oom-pAH...
Giant cow-bells...
And big muskets...
Flag-jugglers....
Norwegians...
Little Drummer Boys...
Men on horseback...
A scene similar to the one from
Tianamen Square only backwards and 19th century...
Jolly old bombadiers...
Maltese Ghostbusters...
These kids were really proud of their inability to smooch...
A maypole with people in traditional dress that could come from Denmark, Romania, Portugal, or Belarus... not sure...
Here is the wife and the back of the head of Bavaria's prime minister (though he was just voted out), Günther Beckstein...
The Dutch...
...with wooden shoes even!
"Bring out your cheese!"
Costumes similiar to the Vatican Swiss Guard...
Even the little ones got in on the action, though not always enthusiastically...
A group of people holding decorated letter "A's" They were alduterers. All of them.
And the Swiss with their Alpenhorns....
After the parade I went with the elders to the U-bahn station and helped them snap a few photos of the Oktoberfest entrance (they weren't allowed inside.)
On another day I returned to the Wies'n but I didn't really go inside. Instead I paid a euro to climb the tower of St. Paul's church that sits just beside the Wies'n....
From the top one could look down at the beer tents and the rest of the Oktoberfest grounds...
There was also a decent view of Munich itself...
The Wies'n!
...and the masses of people!
...and I do mean masses!
A beer tent with fall colors on the trees...
The Ferris wheel...
Some excited swingers...
All in all it had been a fascinating look at this famous festival.
Here are some interesting facts from the 2007 Oktoberfest:
Oktoberfest numbers (2007)
- Area: 103.79 acres (0.42 km²)
- Seats in the festival halls: ca. 100,000
- Visitors: 6.2 million
- Beer: appr. 6,940,600 litres (126,900 litres non-alcoholic)
- Wine: 79,624 litres
- Sparkling wine: 32,047 litres
- Coffee, tea: 222,725 litres
- Water, lemonade: 909,765 ½ litres
- Chicken: 521,872 units
- Pork sausages: 142,253 pairs
- Fish: 38,650 kg
- Pork knuckles: 58,446 units
- Oxen: 104 units,
- Expenditure of electricity: 2.8 million kWh (as much as 14% of Munich's daily need or as much as a four person family will need in 52 years and 4 months)
- Expenditure of gas: about 205,000 m³
- Expenditure of water: about 90,000 m³ (as much as 27% of Munich´s daily need )
- Waste: 678 t (2004)
- Toilets: about 980 seated, more than 878 metres of urinals and 17 for disabled persons.
- Telephones: 83, also for international credit cards.
- Lost property: about 4000 items, among them 260 pairs of glasses, 200 mobile phones, wedding rings, crutches, and even dentures
"Yo ho! Yo ho! A small world after all!"
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