Well, Bavarians don't say "Oktoberfest"... they simply talk about the Wiesn (the "meadow") where it occurs. It's actually named Theresienwiese and is much less a "meadow" than a huge (4.5 million sq. ft.) paved fairground in the middle of the city.
It doesn't cost anything to enter the grounds and walk around, so last Tuesday (9/25) I went in the early afternoon just to check it out. The crowds weren't too crazy yet.
The food here, however, is somewhat different than any fair I've been to before: Not only are the traditional soft pretzels everywhere, but you can get roast ox for example, or pig knuckles (schweinshax'n, see below...) which is a Bavarian specialty. (I've had it once - it actually tastes pretty good.)
A lot of people really do wear traditional clothing; Dirndl's and Lederhosen. What's kind of funny though, is that in the last ten years or so is has become very popular to dress like this for the Wiesn, even if you're not German! Apparently some tourist travel companies now even include a dirndl or lederhosen in the tour package. (They certainly have been heavily marketed in Munich ever since we got here...dirndl's and lederhosen in most every store front!) I find it a little odd to see a Japanese girl or a black man in traditional Bavarian Trachten, but fun too.
The beer is the thing, of course. Each of the big six Munich breweries has a "tent" (monstrous pavilion) here, seating at least 10,000 people at once. I think some of them have more than one tent actually, and there are may smaller breweries too, so the whole seating capacity of Oktoberfest is probably close to 100,000 people. But, if you don't have a reservation there is no way you can get into any tent after about 2 p.m., and apparently the tents have all been booked weeks in advance.
I took a few pictures of some of the tents - but without an arial view it's hard to get a sense of the size of these things...
Since it was only 2 p.m. on a Tuesday, I got inside the Löwenbräu pavilion, just to see what it's like:
Not as ornately decorated as some of the pavilions are, I gather, but still pretty impressive. There was an "oom-pa-pa" band playing up on that stage, and the atmosphere was festive and noisy, but at this point in the day, relatively calm. It gets quite different, I gather, as the day progresses...
A lot of people were outside the pavilion also, since it was so nice out.
I hate to admit that I haven't yet had a beer at the Wiesn... sure I could have on my own that Tuesday (when the kids were in school and Thomas at work) but that's not my thing. Also, it's expensive, 10 Euro ($13) for a liter, the minimum you can buy!
So Sunday afternoon we decided to go as a family... along with another million or two people. We were hoping the cloudy weather would keep the crowds down, but the weekends are apparently always packed. We were there for about two hours; Benjamin and Thomas rode the (less scary of the two) roller-coasters,
then we all went on the swing carousel.
Even at 4 p.m. that day we saw a few obviously drunk people both in and around the park. Actually, the whole city goes into party mode these two weeks, and it feels a bit like a big frat party on the subways and trains sometimes... There are security people guarding the subways to make sure people don't fall onto the tracks, and to helps stuff them into the trains!
Speaking of stuffing people into trains, it is very crowded in the city during Oktoberfest. Evidently between 6 and 7 million(!) visitors come every year, over these 16 days. Assuming they all stay at least two days, then the population of this city of 1.3 million is doubled! Picking Benjamin up from his school downtown these days has been interesting... all the subways and trains are packed.
So I have a couple more days' chance to get back there if I want and have lunch (and maybe a beer) before it ends this coming weekend. Mom and Dad come tomorrow -- we'll see if they want to brave the crowds!
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