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This festival begins the last week in September and lasts 2 weeks in Germany.
Story and photos by Vivienne Mackie Photographs courtesy of the Munich Tourist Board
What
is Oktoberfest? Think....Big... Beer... Bratwurst... Bands,
especially playing oom-pah music Think....Tent (but not as in
camping)...Paulaner Beer (one of the main sponsors)...pretzels
...."gumutlikheit" (translated roughly as
"coziness" or "good time"). So, get out the
beer steins and the lederhosen (leather short pants) and prepare for a
big party.
The focus is in Munich, in Bavaria, southern Germany, but there will be festivities all over the country. And, many other places in the world
have embraced this exhuberant, happy tradition from German immigrants (See partial list at end of article).
The tradition of Oktoberfest goes back to 1810, when the first celebration took place as part of the festivities linked with the autumn
marriage of Ludwig 1 of Bavaria and Therese von Sachsen Hilburghausen. Many farmers brought new crops to the wedding celebration and made a big
mound with them in the city. Over the years this mound has evolved into an Oktoberfest monument - it's different every year, but always has
fruits and vegetables from the new harvest.
The locals from Munich ("Muenchen" in German) call the festival "Wiesn" after the name of the
traditional place of the celebration - the Theresienwiese. The Muencheners say that this is the only real
Oktoberfest in the world.
Two other famous traditions linked with Oktoberfest are a parade, and drinking beer. The parade begins the festivities and is led by a child,
der Munchen Kinder (the Munich Child). This child represents the birth of a new Germany, which came about after the merger of north and south
with the marriage of Ludwig and Therese. After the parade, Munich's mayor exclaims "Ozapft is" or "Angezapft ist" (in High German), which
means "It's been tapped". The mayor taps the first keg of beer and the Oktoberfest gets started.
In general these days, most people don't know (or care) about the original meaning of the fest. The aim now is just to have a good time,
and the Oktoberfest in Munich has become perhaps the largest festival in the world, with around 7 million attending in recent years. People love
the German food and drink, the music and dancing, and the carnival atmosphere with the big tents, and rich program of events, like costumed
parades, band concerts, fun runs, rides (from a big wheel to a flea circus) and circus Krone performances. (The Krone Circus has its
headquarters in Munich, www.circus-krone.de)
Many European countries offer special Oktoberfest travel package deals to Munich, and the backpacker ones geared to young people are amazingly
popular.
SOME FUN STATISTICS:
14 huge festival/beer tents can hold up to 10,000 people each.
In 2000, 6.9 million visitors consumed 6,459,100 liters of beer and
170,400 liters of non-alcoholic beer; 681, 242 fried chickens; 235,474
pairs of bratwurst.
MUNICH, a city of about 1.2 million, is near the geographic center of Bavaria. It's a beautiful city with a long history, founded on June 14,
1158 by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony. Even without the Oktoberfest there is lots to see and do, including 45 famous museums and collection.
Check out www.muenchen-tourist.de/englisch
(this also has the beer gardens and beer drinkers' guide to Munich).
In the USA many cities hold their own Oktoberfest celebrations, but the most famous, and the
biggest, is in Cincinnati, Ohio. Close to a million people jam the streets of "Zinzinnati", jostling to oom-pah music from
at least seven huge entertainment stages, while food vendors serve bratwurst, sauerkraut, and thousands of gallons of beer. In 2002, the
ZINZINNATI Fest is September 20-22, and it bills itself as "the largest and most authentic in the US". Happily, there is no admission charge.
See www.oktoberfest-zinzinnati.com
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JustSayGO Travel Show
The focus is in Munich, in Bavaria, southern Germany, but there will be festivities all over the country. And, many other places in the world
have embraced this exhuberant, happy tradition from German immigrants (See partial list at end of article).
The tradition of Oktoberfest goes back to 1810, when the first celebration took place as part of the festivities linked with the autumn
marriage of Ludwig 1 of Bavaria and Therese von Sachsen Hilburghausen. Many farmers brought new crops to the wedding celebration and made a big
mound with them in the city. Over the years this mound has evolved into an Oktoberfest monument - it's different every year, but always has
fruits and vegetables from the new harvest.
