As far as I can recollect, the first time I heard about Oktoberfest was way back in 2005 when it was held for the first time in India, in Bengaluru. Since then, I have been looking to visit the ‘original’ Oktoberfest but somehow, it was never a priority. This year, since I had an occasion to celebrate, I was looking at options and eventually decided to head to Munich, Germany where Oktoberfest is held every year. It is the world’s largest beer festival and is among the world’s most popular festivals. Sample this:
No. of visitors in 2023 – 7.2million
Beer consumed – 6.5million litres over 18 days
Roast chicken consumed – over 500k
That is some very serious quantity of beer. Oktoberfest starts around September third week and ends on the first Sunday of October. Bulk of the visitors are from Germany or other parts of Europe. Oktoberfest combines a beer festival with a carnival – it is all about showcasing traditional Bavarian culture, enjoying various rides, games and attractions and consuming lots of great beer specially brewed for the fest along with favourite items from Bavarian cuisine, all in a festive community setting.
The fest covers ~100 acres of area
The location where Oktoberfest is held is ~100 acres open space called Theresienwiese in Munich, quite close to the central railway station. It took me ~ 2 hours to slowly walk around without seeing everything there is. Neatly organised in almost a perfect grid, with most rides and attractions on one side, Tents and stalls on the other. The Oide Wiesn is also located in one corner. Oide Wiesn is supposed to emphase the traditional character of Oktoberfest, with brass music and historical attractions. There is an entry fee of 3 euros.
Overall there are about 18 large Tents( 4 of them in Oide Wiesn) and ~20 smaller ones. Many of Tents, especially the smaller ones, specialise in specific dishes, all meat based.
Here is the link to the map of Theresienwiese.
https://www.muenchen.de/en/events/oktoberfest/oktoberfest-map-overview-theresienwiese
How to get to Theresienwiese
Theresienwiese is well connected by public transport via U-Bahn, S-Bahn, Trams and buses. I had booked my hotel on the U-6 line and I obviously preferred to travel by subway, alighting at Poccistraße station from where Theresienwiese is a 5 minutes walk. The previous stop Goetheplatz is also ok. On U-4/U-5, Theresienwiese station/ Schwanthalerhöhe station would be the stops. For U-3, it is Poccistraße.
One can even walk from the central railway station or take the tram/bus.
When to visit?
Friday evenings, Saturdays and Sunday mornings are said to be most crowded, so Monday to Friday mornings are probably the best times. I would suggest a visit in the morning as well as evening, on two separate days as it can get a bit tiring after ~4 hours. More time is required to enjoy the rides and other attractions, and yes, there will be queue everywhere, but if the intention is simply soak in the festive atmosphere and have a beer or two, 2 visits should be good.
Here is the link to the Oktoberfest barometer that provides guidance on the best times to visit.
Different Tents serve different variety of beer but each Tent would typically serve beer from only one brewery. So multiple visits may be required to taste different varieties.
I visited on a Thursday evening and a Friday morning with the initial intention to visit on a Sunday evening as well but decided against. Think the novelty factor had worn off after 2 visits.
For a more immersive experience, there are special parades, events on the opening day, first Sunday, the last day etc.
Inside the Tents
Most of the drinking, eating and merry making happens inside the Tents. Some of the larger Tents can accommodate upto 10,000 people! The Tents have seating inside as well as outside. And it can get very very crowded. The rule is to serve beer only to those who are seated and it is inevitably in a 1 litre mug. Tents normally serve tap/draft beer from one brewery out of the 6 breweries authorized to sell beer at Oktoberfest. As per rules, the alcohol content in the beer served at Octoberfest is expected to be around 6%.
The seating reminded me of my school days. Benches, sometimes without back rest, on both the sides of a table. Typically, 8 people can sit comfortably, 4 on each side but benches do vary in size. I wanted to move to another table after my beer was served but was not permitted. Guess each waiter/waitress has assigned benches and if you need a seat, you need to order.
Only those seated inside can enjoy the Band playing live music, largely local but interspersed with pan European and English songs. But speakers are installed outside also and hence don’t expect a quiet zone.
Cash is king
A big surprise was that Cash is King at Oktoberfest. Having got so used to UPI payments in India, it felt odd counting Euros to make payments. Cards are not welcome, especially for smaller bills. So make sure you carry adequate currency. Tipping is not expected, but it is the usual practice to forego smaller change.
Prior reservations not needed for smaller groups.
The question that invariably gets asked is whether any reservation is required, given the number of visitors. There is no need is reserve a table in advance unless you are part of bigger group(minimum 6-8 adults). Reservations need to be made directly with the Tents and normally, entire table has to be reserved. Local rules requires that a portion of the seats be set apart for walk-ins. Even then, getting seating in the evenings is bit of a struggle but mornings is relatively easier. So for a couple, best to land up in the mornings to get a seat inside the Tent. Outside seating will generally be available in the evenings, though there will certainly be a wait period.
What to expect at Okberfest?
Thursday evening
I visited on 2 consecutive days, Thursday evening and Friday morning. The atmosphere, especially in the evenings was very lively. Everyone appeared to be having a good time. There were long queues for some of the rides and attractions. Plenty of food stalls as well but overall nothing much for vegetarians. My choices were limited to potato spirals called Kartoffellanzen (Spiralkartoffeln) locally, French fries, Bavarian Pretzel and ice cream/yogurt. Hot potato spirals made for a great snack especially on a cool evening but is deeply fried and sprinkled with salt/pepper/chilli powder. Bavarian pretzels is a bread with salt crystals stuck on the surface. Bit dry unless served with cheese or consumed with beer. Couple of stalls were also selling tomato cheese sandwich.
Shared tables
I spent some time in 3 of the larger Tents. The first two Tents were full but in the third Tent(Augustinerbrau-Festhalle), I could get a place to sit outside, sharing the table with 6 others. Unfortunately, there were no tables meant for a couple! The beer served is tap or draft beer, and cost €14.5 per litre. Payment had to be made as soon as beer or food is served, in cash. The 1 litre mug is heavy, but I learnt the technique of holding it in one hand. The servers, both male and female, effortlessly carried 8 such mugs at a time.
The beer served(think it was Helles) certainly tasted great, without much trace of bitterness. Vegetarian snacks were not available, not even french fries. It was just as well that I had an early dinner.
Friday morning
Oide Wiesn
The next day morning, I visited Oide Wiesn first. Surprisingly, there was hardly any crowd on a Friday morning, not sure if the drizzle was a contributory factor. When I checked out the four Tents, I did not notice any folk songs being sung or dances being performed or even music being played. Possibly all the action happens in the afternoon/evening hours. Also checked the food menu at one of the Tents and found couple of similar vegetarian options, like in the Tents the previous evening. So I just had an overpriced cup of coffee, considered playing a game of traditional bowling but decided against and stepped out. It was already noon and I was keen to find a place inside a Tent outside of Oide Wiesn.
The second Tent I walked into accommodated me and my spouse inside. The festive atmosphere was palpable in sharp contrast to the Tents at Oide Wiesn. I decided to sit with the crowd though secluded tables were also available. The benches were much longer making entry exit a bit laborious for those not seated at the corners. The band belted out some very popular songs, judging from the passionate involvement of the crowd. The music was not too loud, enabling conversations to happen. The atmosphere was fantastic and makes everyone get involved, even if limited to clinking beers mugs with ‘neighbours’. And that happened quite frequently.
Another activity that drew everyone’s attention was any person standing up on the bench and gulping down the entire 1 litre of beer at one go, in under one minute. Helped by some wild cheering by others. Forget the males, even the females were not far behind.
Disappointing vegetarian fare
Then came the disastrous part. My neighbours helped me select a vegetarian dish – noodles with cheese – that I reconfirmed before placing order. This is what it looked like.
Almost entirely cheese and some fried onions with noodles performing a disappearing act. Totally opposite to what I was expecting – more noodles. Cost me €14.90, without bread and I could just about finish half the plate. It tasted ok while hot but was not easy to swallow when cold. But I did have a feeling that a non-vegetarian plate serves lot more for the same cost. The Pretzel was the savior. But what made it more difficult for me and my spouse were food orders placed by our neighbours – roast chicken and sausages are quite popular, and they smell when being served and eaten. But I found a way out – short walks inside the big Tents! So much life all round! Even for a vegetarian like me, the view of many chicken being roasted in the open kitchen was quite a sight!
Vegetarian items tend to be full of cheese or wild mushrooms. Further, vegetarian and vegan are often mixed up – one needs to be careful as vegan will include soy based stuff with non-vegetarian flavor. Dessert items usually contain eggs.
2023 food and drinks menu
Check out this link. Click on the ‘menu’ to open the entire menu. Most of the bigger Tents publish English menu but vegetarian options are similar. A couple of Tents serve vegetarian soup. In hindsight, I may have been better off had I looked at the menus first and then decided on the Tent. But it does take away the spontaneity.
Other drinks
While beer is the most popular drink, non alcoholic beer is also available along with soft drinks and wine.
Rides and attractions
There are a variety of rides and attractions available to keep everyone occupied. You can find more details on this link.
https://www.oktoberfest.de/en/attractions/rides
Is Oktoberfest expensive?
Entry is free for all, to the grounds as well as the Tents.
Food and beverages at Oktoberfest are on an average upto 50% more expensive than outside. 1 litre of beer cost€14.5 per litre where it would be less than €10 outside. Non alcoholic beer too costs about the same. A cup of coffee is closer to €5 as against €4 outside. Food items are largely around €15 while smaller servings/snacks would be under €10. Prices tend to vary marginally across Tents and stalls. Food is cheaper in outside stalls as compared to Tents. Roast chicken, possibly the most popular food item, costs around €15 for 1/2 portion. I also gathered that couple of Tents have introduced ‘organic chicken’ that costs around €20.
I think a couple can easily get by with under €100 over half a day or so, with the caveat that it will depend entirely on how much and what one drinks and eats.
Hotel rooms are very expensive
But the far bigger cost of visiting Munich during Oktoberfest is the hotel rent…almost 3X plus the normal rent, even if booked well ahead of time. Tried multiple websites but I could not find any hotel with decent sized rooms under Euros 300 per night, for a couple with breakfast. More about it in a separate post.
What else?
It is not mandatory to wear the traditional attire – Lederhosen for men and Dirdnl for women. Though there is no denying the fact that wearing traditional attire accentuates the ‘feel good’ factor and gets you more involved.
The size of the bags that can be take inside is limited to 20cm by 15cm by 10cm. The security is quite strict about this. So regular backpacks will not be allowed. I decided not to carry my DSLR also.
The queues for the rest rooms can also be long, especially for women. So don’t get worried if your wife disappears for a while!
Though my visit was smooth, I have read that cases of drug abuse and sexual harassment are on the increase. For visitors, better to avoid late nights and be watchful if alone.
Finally, get comfortable sitting with the crowd!
Is Oktoberfest worth visiting?
I think so. If you are a beer fan, Oktoberfest has to be on your bucket list. There is live music, dancing, games, rides, parades, variety of beer and the best of Bavarian cuisine for those who can enjoy that. And beer does taste very good and different.
But what if one does not consume beer? Or is finicky and very particular about food? No doubt the beer and the Bavarian food are the special attractions and indulging in one of them at least is necessary to truly enjoy the spirit of Oktoberfest but both can be dispensed if your aim is to simply soak in the festive atmosphere. In which case, it is probably worthwhile to consider staying away from Munich and do a day trip, the money saved can be better utilized!
Even otherwise, Munich is a city full of ‘biergartens’, including the Hofbräuhaus München(they have a Tent at Oktoberfest) built in the 16th century! So there is no dearth of places to enjoy a locally brewed mug of beer, anytime during the year!
For more information
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What to do in Munich, Germany’s beer capital
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