Oktoberfest; try to imagine every fraternity in the country pooled all their money and rented Disneyland for two weeks.
In the fall of '04, my company sent me to live in Nuremberg for three months. People I worked with told me not to bother with Oktoberfest; that it had gotten so big and crowded that it was more trouble than it was worth. (And they had taken me to a smaller beer fest in Erlangen that was really nice.) Someone did say that if I went and wanted to get into one of the beer halls, I should try to be there by 6:00. I thought he meant p.m.
So I went. I’m not a big drinker or partier, but if I was that close, I just had to see it for myself. The grounds are huge, and it’s about half amusement park (roller coasters, ferris wheels, and some I’d never seen before) and half beer halls. All the big breweries set up these huge tents, each one probably holds a couple thousand.
I had trouble finding the WC, so start looking before you need it. I saw a couple guys who had given up looking and found a convenient wall.
I was there in the early afternoon and all the beer halls had signs up that they were full. (It was a Saturday.) There were people hanging around by the front doors, so I figured it was like any restaurant, when people come out they let the same number in. No one ever came out. It’s like you get in there and stake a claim on a table and never leave it.
I still wanted to at least see inside, so as I was walking by I tried to get to one of the side doors to just look through the window. And just as I got there, someone opened the door and let in about a dozen of us. It’s just like you imagine it, except not quite. I go in, the band is playing, there are long rows of tables and people are standing on their benches waving their huge beer mugs back and forth to that traditional German drinking song La Bamba.
The band took a break and things quited down a little. I wanted to just find a place at a table, have some pork shoulder and a beer, and then clear out. I couldn’t find a place to sit down. There were some open chairs, but everyone at the table said they were reserved.
It was not a friendly place.
I left. I found a nice, outdoor beergarden, had some dinner and caught a train back to Nuremberg.
I’m still glad I went. It wasn’t a great party, especially for someone going alone, but it was just one of those things to see one time in my life. And there’s other good stuff to see in Munich.
I’ve got some pictures. I’ll try to get them scanned in tonight.
