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Topic: Oktoberfest

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Post HTML is off for this forum IkonCode is on for this forum Emoticons are enabled	Here's some Oktoberfest info, courtesy of the Press Association. Imagine the idea of thousands of people coming together to drink extra strong beer all day long and ride on the latest white-knuckle fairground rides. Sounds like a recipe for disaster? Well it might be if it was taking place in this country. But each year the Munich Oktoberfest takes place in the heart of Bavaria with people meeting up to eat, drink, be merry and in a few cases, fall over. If you think that this event is similar to British beer festivals – where groups of staunch real ale drinkers meet to discuss the relative merits of old newt – I suggest you think again. The Oktoberfest consists of 14 huge beer tents where revellers are entertained by singers, dancers and bands. Each of these has its own distinct atmosphere – although it seemed that everywhere I went the bands were playing their own version of DJ Otzi’s incredibly irritating hit Hey Baby. Add to this stalls selling every kind of food you can possibly imagine, there are even expresso stands if you feel the need to sober up, and possibly the largest fairground you are likely you see in your life. And all this goes ahead every year without the slightest sign of any trouble breaking out on the festival grounds. The origins of this extraordinary event are based on decades of tradition. According to the history behind it, the reason this mammoth drinking session started was with a couple tying the knot – like most good weddings there was a booze-up involved. Just on a much larger scale. On October 12 1810, Crown Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen (cor). The citizens of Munich were invited along to the festivities held on the fields in front of the city gates to mark the happy royal event. At the close of the celebrations a number of horse races were held. They were such a success that it was decided to repeat them in the following years and this led to the Oktoberfest. Throughout the 19th century the annual event continued to develop. At first a few amusements appeared and, to quench visitors’ thirsts, a few beer stands appeared on site. Over the years it is this side of the Oktoberfest which has expanded until the horse races became just a distant memory. Now more than six million visitors from around the world descend on Munich to take part in all the fun of the fest. And to make the enormous scale quite clear, in 2000 visitors consumed 4,868,000 litres of beer, 23,663 litres of wine, 610,000 portions of chicken and 145,506 pairs of pork sausages. That’s a fair amount of food and drink by anyone’s standards. Some things have changed over the centuries though – these days the Oktoberfest actually begins at the end of September, this year it starts on September 21 and lasts for 16 days. Walking into the mammoth Lowenbrau tent you are immediately hit by the fantastic atmosphere that is generated by thousands of revellers. There is a constant buzz and a general air of bonhomie. The extra strong beer, brewed specially for the occasion, is served in steins, which contain two pints. These are brought to the tables by women dressed in traditional costume. They must be extra-strength themselves as they seem to carry a huge number of steins without even breaking into a sweat. But I suppose it is also handy if they do have to sort out any bother. Drinkers sit at long wooden trestle tables which extend along the full length of the hall. Many wear traditional Bavarian costumes, including a surprising number of young visitors. In the centre of the hall is a bandstand where a traditional German band performs a mixture of today’s pop hits and drinking songs. For the more energetic drinkers there’s a dancefloor but most people get up and dance by their tables. It is an amazing sight to see and despite the continual drinking there is not the slightest hint of a frown on anybody’s face let alone fists raised in anger when someone gets their toes accidentally stood on. As the night is still young, and I don’t fancy my chances at lasting the pace with the more competent drinkers, I head out onto the festival grounds. Families wander around the brightly-lit fairground with its dozens of high-tech thrillers, which put British funfairs to shame. Along with the dodgems, carousels and other more usual amusements this fairground has roller coasters, mammoth ghost trains and a huge ferris wheel giving great panoramic views of the site and the city beyond. My personal favourites were Starworld – an indoor roller coaster where the cars spin as they speed past asteroids, shooting stars and exploding planets and the Jumping ride which propels you skywards before dropping you back to earth. But I decide on putting off any more rides as the joint effect of more spinning and dropping with extra strong beer might have an adverse effect. I even spotted a revolving bar on the way back to the hall. Back in the hall the party had really kicked off. Total strangers were now acting like long lost friends as the band struck up with that DJ Otzi tune once more. Maybe there was time for just one last beer before home time?
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