Oktoberfest advice: avoid these common injuries!

Posted by Jul on 27 September 2008

As fun as Oktoberfest is, there are still some dangers lurking, particularly where beer steins are involved. This friend (who will remain somewhat anonymous) demonstrates a couple common Oktoberfest injuries for us. See this vertical welt on her forehead?

Here she reenacts how she got it:

My advice: don’t do this.

Injury number two: blisters from repeatedly lifting a Maβ beer stein.

My advice: um, bring weightlifting gloves?

Anyone else sustaining any Oktoberfest injuries?

UPDATE: I’ve since written a post with more comprehensive Oktoberfest advice for first-timers, in case that is what you’re looking for.

Tags: Bavaria, beer, Germany, Munich, Oktoberfest

Comments (12)

• 
  Jesse Noe Mendez

  September 28th, 2008

  Oh my god! no wonder those arms are soooooo stong. Those beer kegs look heavy. And that welt! Ouch….!

  I envy that part of the world, but I don't miss the drinking I must confess. It was hard as hell to stop. But I love drinkers! They are so funny and lovable and explode with intimacies of conversation that just go from this to that random….ness >__<

  Take care and see you again soon,
  love,
  jesse

• 
  Ken

  September 29th, 2008

  As usual, all my Oktoberfest injuries are internal and involve most of my major organs

  Another piece of free advice is to avoid large Germans offering snuff… you know, that brown stuff that you shove up your nose. I cried for an hour :’-(

• 
  Anonymous

  September 29th, 2008

  I’m signing in as anonymous. I refuse to be revealed!! I was going to blame Saron, but I already tried that and she’s not covering for me. I’m guilty of oktoberfest stupidity!!!

• 
  Diane Mandy

  September 29th, 2008

  Had a few near misses, but thankfully everyone at our table came out without a scratch.

• 
  finom

  September 29th, 2008

  Looks like a lot of fun, even with the injuries. Love the re-enactment shot!

• 
  Molly

  September 30th, 2008

  Ok, can we do a little cost comparison? I’m in San Francisco, and we have an annual Oktoberfest by the Bay. I’m not even going to compare it to the real Oktoberfest except to ask about prices. Here admission is $25 and food and beer are separate. Food is $3 for a pretzel and $12 for a plate of food. Beer is $6. So two people go and have a couple of beers and food… that’s close to $100. I could have a great dinner for that, though no oompah music. What would $100 get me in Munich?

  (PS, finom above is me. OpenID didn’t work as I expected it to!)

• 
  ak

  October 1st, 2008

  My foot is still red and hurts from the Swede dropping a full mass on it.

• 
  Jul

  October 1st, 2008

  Molly – $25 entry is pretty steep! What do you get for that? Is it just one tent? Is there music? A place to sit?

  In Munich entrance is free. A liter of beer costs a big €8, and a plate of food can be had for between €10-20 (or much more at the gourmet tent, or much less if you eat a sausage at a take-away stand). Live music and dancing on the tables is included!

• 
  Jul

  October 1st, 2008

  AK – take some photos and we can add to the post!

  Hope your foot recovers soon…

• 
  Jul

  October 1st, 2008

  Ken – good advice. I will not shove anything, brown or otherwise, offered to me by large Germans up my nose.

• 
  headbang8

  October 6th, 2008

  I hurt my head, too. From the inside.

• 
  Jul

  October 6th, 2008

  Headbang, I think that’s a mighty common Oktoberfest injury indeed.