Yes, the famous Oktoberfest in Munich will start on September 21st and goes until October 6th. Here is a link.
Also, the average price for a liter of beer this year is about 9.50 Euros = $12.55. So if you do go, be sure to bring some major bucks to have a few of those liters, plus perhaps some food.
Oktoberfest is really fun - once.
Think about the biggest frat party you have ever seen in your entire life, with lots and lots of tents, each about the size of football field, with loud bands, loud groups of people in various stages of inebriation, and crowded tables of people from all over the world! Just getting through the crowd to go pee is an adventure in and of itself. And usually, you have to pay to pee. And it ain’t a pretty pee place and smells, uh, a bit ripe.
They actually have a “drunk tent” where they schlep the bodies to sober up - and I believe they charge you a fee to get out!
There are also lots of carnival rides and food booths and carny games, etc. Think of a State Fair in the USA and that is pretty much what is around all of those beer tents.
But yeah - a rite of passage and, should you have the opportunity - you might want to give the famous Oktoberfest in Munich a try - at least once.
Geeeeez…I went once in my student days (about ten years ago), and the price must have risen, because I’m sure I couldn’t have afforded to get as drunk as I did at $12.55 a pop. Though, those steins are pretty big, so…
It’s a good time, and worth doing. I’m excited to say I’ll get to go this year - will report back!
I was there 2 years in a row back in 2000-2001, good times!
Favorite sights - some guy at a table near us was acting up, about 20 black-clad police swooped in, picked him up into the air, and carrying him over their heads had him out of there in about 5 seconds. Yeah, baby!
I was there once. I don’t remember if I saw any lederhosen, but there were a few women in dirndl. I didn’t hear anyone complaining.
I barely got into one of the beer tents, though, and then couldn’t find a place to sit down. I’m not much of a drinker but would have liked to have tried the food.
Newbie error. There is ALWAYS room for one more at any table and at any bench. You are constantly scooting closer and closer to the people next to you until you can pretty much tell when they burp without hearing them do so.
Granted, by the end of the night you have about 4 inches of space to sit on that bench, but who cares?
I tried asking for space at several tables that looked like they had room, but was rebuffed every time.
Still, quite an experience. I only got in because I went around to the side door of one of the tents to look in the window, and somebody opened the door and let a few of us in. The band was playing that traditional German drinking song La Bamba. Saw a carnival ride there I’ve never seen before or since; it had people stepping on an inclined conveyor belt and seemed to be just an excuse to watch drunk people fall on their butts.
I was there once in 1999, and our hostess (friend of a work colleague) was dressed up in traditional Oktoberfest garb. I was going in expecting to be a bit put off by the, I dunno, commercialism or “tourist destination”-ness of it all, but I had a great time all around. It was a fantastic celebration full of gemütlichkeit, and one of my favorite memories of Bavaria. One day, I shall return…
Yes, that ride is infamous at German fairgrounds - and a lawsuit waiting to happen if it were in the USA! You have a huge incline conveyor belt and have to jump on it, lean forward at just the right angle, and go from zero to about 25 mph in a second. All of this in front of a huge crowd of sadistic onlookers…you sort of have to be at least slightly drunk to even be stupid enough to try.
Sorry about my misinformation about getting a seat inside the tent - maybe they have become more inflexible…then again, after the hour gets late, and beer is flowing, people are more inclined to invite others over to sit with them - but that might also have something to do with physical attraction, so maybe I was just sitting at the horny table that was pretty much allowing anyone to squeeze in that night? From what I remember, it was a rowdy group and rowdy grope and grind at that particular table that night…but as often happens, memories tend to fog about specifics of events at late night Oktoberfest binges.
And the guys who work the ride just jump on and off with no problems. Was it transportable, though? I didn’t check the one I saw, but it seemed like it might be permanent. (Southeast corner of the grounds, if I remember correctly.) I was tempted to give it a try, and I was sober, but I didn’t have anyone with me to hold my backpack and camera.
Not sure about the one you saw at Oktoberfest, but they do have a version that can be set up anywhere. At the usual carnivals in Berlin with roller coasters, etc. this was one of the “rides” with that conveyor belt at the front of the large trailer - so the crowds can watch, but then you go through a door at the top and then wind your way down through a “fun house” type of adventure afterwards - the usual trick mirrors, glass maze, etc.
