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Travel Story

Wiesn!

Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany

Story and photography by Mike Crane

This is it: Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany is the real deal. It is said to be the largest party in the world. A mind-boggling 5.9 million people partied it up during the 16 days of last year’s festival.

You have to picture fair grounds approximately 100 acres in size, occupied by 14 hangar-sized beer tents. The largest can seat 9,300 people and in total there are 98,000 indoor seats. It takes about 12,000 staff to support Oktoberfest. According to the Munich website, the consumption of the basic Oktoberfest staples weighed in at over 6.1 million litres of beer, 33,000 bottles of wine, just under 500,000 roast chickens, 400,000 pork sausages and over 47,000 kilograms of fish. All in all, Oktoberfest annually brings in just under 1 billion euros (around $1.6 billion Cdn) to the city of Munich.

The first Oktoberfest was held in 1810 to celebrate a royal wedding. The modern Oktoberfest, strangely enough, is mostly held in September. This year it will be held Sept. 17 th -Oct. 3 rd . The September start allows partygoers warmer evenings before the fall weather sets in.

We arrived in Munich for the final weekend of last year’s Oktoberfest, with no hotel reservations. After a few calls beginning with "Sprechen zie englisch?" to nearby towns we gave up and just dumped our stuff in a locker. The plan would be to stay in Munich until the evening and then catch a night train to Frankfurt, sleep en route and wake up in Frankfurt in time to catch the first train back to Munich. With train passes in hand and convinced that this was the ideal last minute solution for getting some much-needed sleep, we were ready to partake.

Relieved of our backpacks, we headed over to the Theresienwiese fairgrounds where Oktoberfest, or simply "Wiesn" as the Bavarians call it, is held. Arriving at the Theresienwiese grounds was quite a scene: there were thousands upon thousands of people, consuming excessive amounts of sausage, chicken, fish and of course the famous beer, which comes in 1 litre steins. Others lined up and waited with the hopes of slipping into an already full beer tent. Overlaying all this overindulgence was the buzz of various rides and games run by carnies doing live commentaries to German techno.

A few hours passed quickly wandering around and taking in all the sites and sounds. Amongst the beer and sausages there is also a wide variety of other delicacies to be had. From dumplings to strudels and soups to doughnuts; an empty, cast-iron stomach is required to get it all in.

The carnival atmosphere of Wiesn is like others the world over, with kids queuing for rides and hucksters promoting games of "chance" – until it’s punctuated by waitresses slamming down up to eight frothy, 1 litre beers at a time in front of men clad in lederhosen. This is Oktoberfest, not the PNE.

It’s no easy task to tote those beer steins, given each full mug must weigh about 3-4 pounds.

Although there is a great deal of alcohol consumption at Oktoberfest there is something for all ages and it is very family-friendly event.

As we left the grounds for the night, the streets were full of thousands of drunken yet well-behaved partygoers. Some were keen to keep it going in various bars while others paused in boulevards and stairwells to contemplate their evening’s efforts and sleep off the effects. This scene continued all the way to the train station, where we caught the midnight train to Frankfurt.

Once settled on the train we left the craziness behind and faded off to sleep. We awoke sometime after 4 a.m. in Frankfurt, anticipating a few more hours sleep on the train back to Munich.

But it wasn’t that easy. First there was about an hour wait for the next train, and when you’re waiting on a bench trying not to fall asleep, that hour doesn’t pass very quickly. Not to worry though, we figured we’d get our beauty rest once the train pulled in and we could stretch out on those comfy seats.

But when the train arrived it was immediately clear that we wouldn’t be sleeping during this journey. The train was completely full and some people were already sitting on the floor. At 6 a.m. there were already Germans clad in lederhosen shouting, singing, doing shots and slamming down beers. It was just after dawn and already the train was teaming with energy and anticipation as we headed back into the eye of the storm.

After an entertaining, yet tiring, train ride back we decided to take it easy and have another quick look around Munich before heading back into the action. We decided to check out Frauenkirche, a 15th century church that is one of Munich’s major landmarks. The church has amazing architecture, featuring a twin tower structure.

The towers inspired us to get a bird’s eye view of Oktoberfest from the large ferris wheel on the fair grounds. From the top of the ferris wheel we could see literally hundreds of thousands of people wandering around doing their thing. You get a real sense of the sheer scale that is Wiesn, the largest folk festival in the world.

Mike Crane is a freelance travel writer and photographer specializing in décor photography. Some of his work can be seen at: www.cultureworx.photostockplus.com