Oktoberfest 2011: same procedure as every year

This is our fourth Oktoberfest as locals. Since leaving my parents’ house at 18, I’ve never lived anywhere else for more than three years, so this is kind of weird for me. I’m not used to doing things for a fourth time.

But here I am, getting out the dirndl (paired with sensible shoes for dancing on wooden benches) for Oktoberfest number four. Conversations with friends all include an exchange of details about which tents we will be in on which nights. The guest room is booked for almost a month straight with various configurations of friends and family. » Read the full post

Tags: Bavaria, beer, Europe, festivals, food, Munich, Oktoberfest, Oktoberfest tents, travel

The real dance moves you need for Oktoberfest

No matter what lazy travel writers want you to believe, there’s no Chicken Dance at Oktoberfest in Munich. If anyone tries to tell you otherwise, stop taking their travel advice immediately, lest you start looking like an arm-flapping fool everywhere you go. Instead, spend your Oktoberfest prep time (only a week to go!) learning these dances, which are sure to come in handy in each and every tent. » Read the full post

Tags: Bavaria, beer, dancing, Germany, Munich, Oktoberfest, Oktoberfest tents, video

Historisches Wiesn: Oktoberfest’s 200th anniversary celebration

UPDATE: The historical section of Oktoberfest was such a hit that it will be back in 2011, rebranded as the Oide Wiesn. Nostalgia and beer for everyone!

Entrance to Oktoberfest in general is free, but this year, in honor of the 200th anniversary of the first Oktoberfest, visitors were offered the privilege of paying for entry to a small section of the wiesn. This section promised something special: old-timey fun. » Read the full post

Tags: Bavaria, beer, festivals, German culture, Germany, Munich, Oktoberfest, Oktoberfest tents

Looking for a last-minute Oktoberfest reservation?

Edited to add: Tickets are now sold out for this event. If you’re planning to attend Oktoberfest without reservations, I recommend parking yourself at an unreserved table by three or four in the afternoon at the latest if you want to spend the evening drinking (that’s on weekdays; on weekends, fuggedaboutit). Also, check out my tips for first-time Oktoberfest visitors.

I hear that there are still a few tickets available for the Democrats Abroad tables at Oktoberfest this year. Whether you’re local or coming in from out of town, this is sure to be a great opportunity to party at Oktoberfest with a fun group of people. We went to DA’s Oktoberfest tables last year, and it was a blast.

If you plan to try to spend time in the tents on a weekend, I highly recommend securing a reservation of some sort. I’m guessing there aren’t too many other opportunities still floating around out there at this late date.

When? Sunday, October 3rd, 2010

Where? Schottelhamel Tent, Oktoberfest, Munich (I haven’t been to this tent yet, so can’t comment on it.)

How do I sign up? You can purchase tickets online. [Link removed since tickets are sold out.]

More info from Democrats Abroad: » Read the full post

Tags: Democrats Abroad, Germany, Munich, Oktoberfest, Oktoberfest reservations, Oktoberfest tents

Ask the expat: Oktoberfest duds and tent tips

I’m searching for an outfit for Oktoberfest this coming September, and I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction. Should I even dress up? I don’t want to offend anyone. If it is cool to wear an outfit, where do you recommend I get one? Is it stupid for me to get one of those cheap Halloween ones? All my friends are going to dress up; I wanted to at least attempt to get an outfit, but legit lederhosen cost more than I want to spend. Any help would be appreciated. Also, can you recommend any tents or easier ways to get into tents?

-Brian C.

Oktoberfest without dressing up is like a Halloween party without a costume: it’s still a lot of fun, but the right outfit can make it even better. I’d say at least half of Oktoberfest attendees show up in tracht (dirdls or lederhosen) these days, locals and foreigners alike. I’d definitely encourage you to dress up if you can find a way to do it without cutting into your beer budget (and Oktoberfest beer ain’t cheap). So what are your options?

1. Spring for real lederhosen, which will probably run you over €100 (more with shirt and socks). That’s definitely a lot to spend if you’re only planning to attend Oktoberfest once, but on the other hand, you’ll have a kick-ass Halloween costume for the rest of your life. You could try your luck on ebay, or pick some up in Munich. There are tracht shops all over the city center (including about a million branches of Wies’n Tracht und Mehr, which at the very least keeps me entertained with its ad campaigns).
2. Go for fake lederhosen, such as those made of plastic or the Bruno variety. I really, really don’t recommend this route. Look at the guys in the second photo down on this post. You don’t want to look like that.
3. Skip the lederhosen all together and go for a different look. Get a hat or an authentic checked tracht shirt for around €20 and wear it with jeans. Or a lederhosen t-shirt – cheesy, yes, but still much, much better than actual fake lederhosen.
4. Wear a kilt. They have nothing to do with Oktoberfest, but our Scottish friends think it’s a great idea.

Women have it easier: an Oktoberfest-ready dirndl (such as these) can be picked up on ebay for $50 or less (but please stay away from the mini-dress catastrophes on Amazon), and they look just fine. There are also some good deals to be found these days in the many tracht stores along Tal, in the center of Munich.

As for which tents I recommend, it depends on what you’re looking for. All the big tents have more in common than they do differences – big beers, long benches, cheesy music, buxom waitresses – but they all have slightly different personalities. I suggest showing up early on a weekday (when you can still wander into all of the tents) and checking out several of them.  The Hacker tent, Ochsenbraterei, and Schützen Festzelt are all solid choices. The Hofbräu tent has a frat party vibe, and seems to have the highest foreigners-to-Germans ratio. The Weinzelt has wine and fancy food; the Käfer tent has really fancy food and low ceilings. The Hippodrom is where the celebrities hang out, perhaps because they are attracted to colorful streamers.

As far as getting into tents, my main advice is this: go early, and find yourself an unreserved table to park at for the day. On weekends you have to arrive when the tents open if you want a chance of getting a table for the day (although sometimes the tents open back up in the late evening). On weekdays you can usually walk in and out of tents freely until late afternoon, when they all fill up. Since this year is the 200th anniversary of Oktoberfest, it will probably be more crowded than in years past. You also might want to check out my advice for first-time Oktoberfest visitors.

Hey readers: anyone have any great tips on where to get decent-looking lederhosen on the cheap? Please share!

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Ask the Expat is an occasional feature here at This non-American Life. If you have a question for me, go to this post to find out how to submit it.

Tags: ask the expat, dirndls, lederhosen, Munich, Oktoberfest, Oktoberfest clothing, Oktoberfest tents, tracht

The home stretch

This Oktoberfest business is seriously exhausting! I’ve spent 6 of the past 11 days at the Wies’n, and I’m planning to go at least one more time. I’m going to need a vacation once this is all over.

The other night we had dinner at the Käfer tent, one of the smaller tents at the Wies’n. Käfer is a well-known gourmet shop and restaurant in Munich, and the fare at their Oktoberfest tent is similarly pricey and delicious. Despite the fancy-schmanciness of the tent, the evening still involved plenty of giant steins of beer and dancing on the benches to ridiculous live music.

Apparently my bedirndled friends and I were looking particularly adorable all sitting in a row, because strangers kept coming by and taking our pictures. It was kind of like being extremely minor celebrities.

What else? My least favorite day was last Saturday, the most crowded day of “Italian weekend”. Normally I would have never attempted to go on the busiest day of Oktoberfest, but we had friends in town just for the weekend and gosh darn it I was determined to get them into a tent. We woke up ridiculously early and were standing in line waiting outside the Löwenbräu* tent at 8:30 AM. The doors finally opened at 8:45 (after the lion let out a big roar), and we scrambled to find a spot for our group. We were downing our first liter of beer before 9:30. Breakfast of champions. The atmosphere couldn’t have been more different than that at the Käfer tent. The crowds were insane. I headed home rather early, but not before our fancy Maβ-holding contest.

It’s not like I’ve been drinking non-stop this whole time… I’ve also gone on a couple rides here and there. There are three roller coasters and a dozen or so other rides interspersed between the stands selling sausages and gingerbread hearts on strings. Who decided that big, stomach-churning rides would go well with giant steins of beer?

Overall I’m enjoying Oktoberfest more than I expected to. I mean, not the puke in random doorways all over the city, or the roving bands of drunken tourists, but the rest of it has proven to be pretty darn fun. Who would have thought?

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* I know what you’re thinking, but here in Germany Löwenbräu is not the same cheap crappy beer that it is in the US. I have no idea why that is.

Tags: Bavaria, beer, Germany, Käfer, Löwenbräu, Munich, Oktoberfest, Oktoberfest clothing, Oktoberfest tents