'Mass' Hysteria at Old Munich's Oktoberfest

Posted Tuesday, September 25, 2007, 8:33 PM by Lonely Planet

Zo! Here at the world's biggest party gearing up for guaranteed anarchy. The first Oktoberfest (22 Sept - 7 Oct) was in 1810, celebrating the marriage of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. What would those royals think of the blowout that is their legacy? The 'Mass', a majestic stein holding a full litre of beer, is the measure of all that takes place at Oktoberfest. 6.5 million liters of this golden nectar will immediately raise the local water table levels considerably.

Our plan for Day One was to witness the arrival of the Brewer's Parade where all the officially sanctioned Munich beer-meisters arrive to signal the official opening of Oktoberfest, followed by the lord mayor's tapping of the first official keg. But that was then, this is now. Or words to that effect. Verbal skills, memory and many other mental functions quickly become impaired at Oktoberfest; it's akin to arriving in the 'Death Zone' on Everest. The nights before Day One of the Fest were spent in 'training' for our assault on the summit of the world's largest drunk but, alas, we had trained all too well. After much fumbling, we staggered out into the daylight with eyes the size of baby peas and charged off to snag the Opening Day parade. We never found it.



But we did manage to find the Wies'n, the huge former parade ground, already awash with about a million staggering dirndl and lederhosen clad lads and lassies. The grounds were quickly awash in beer and other less savory liquids. Our carefully crafted 'plan' quickly became one of mere survival. About three hours later we decided that 'the fog' was really rolling in as we spied ever-increasing numbers of 'beer corpses' and we headed to the Augustiner Brauerei where we scarfed up some huge portions of Schweinshaxen (pork knuckle) and dumplings the size of rugger balls (some of the best in Bavaria) and then lurched across the street to the hotel for a brief siesta, waking up about five hours later...thirsty. A near perfect Day One.

David Peevers will be keeping us updated on the business of beer at the 2007 Oktoberfest so stay tuned for his next post (if he manages to stay up straight).

Are you at Oktoberfest this year or have been in the past? Share your Oktoberfest experiences here.

Labels: Culinary culture, Europe, Festivals and events

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