Where to watch the Oktoberfest parades

I'm going to have a bunch of people with me and we are looking for the best place to catch the Einzug der Festwirte on Saturday 9/22 - any suggestions?

You can stand anywhere along the route. There’s a map at www.festring-muenchen.de (also available as a pdf file). The green line is for the breweries parade, the pink one for the Tracht parade.

The official Munich website, www.muenchen.de, has some info in English (and a pdf file):
Grand entry of the Oktoberfest landlords and breweries
Date: Saturday, 22nd September 2007, 10.45am and lasts about 45 minutes.
Route: Sonnenstraße-Schwanthalerstraße to the Oktoberfest grounds.
Oktoberfest Costume and Riflemen's Parade
Date: Sunday, 23rd September 2007, 10am and lasts 2 - 2 1/2 hours, about 7000 performers, 7 km distance.
Route: Max II. Denkmal, Maximilianstraße, Residenzstraße, Odeonsplatz, Platz der Opfer des Nationalsozialismus, Lenbachplatz, Karlsplatz-Stachus, Sonnenstraße, Schwanthalerstraße, Paul-Heyse-Straße, Georg-Hirth-Platz, Kaiser-Ludwig-Platz, Festwiese

See also the threads:
Oktoberfest opening parades 2006, Dates, times, and route information
Oktoberfest parade -- Saturday 17.Sep.2005, Where do they go?

Thanks for the links!

I would imagine that most of the crowd gathers closer to the Wies'n and that the farther away from the grounds you are, the less crowded things are - is that a valid assumption? If we go a bit further out, what time do we need to "claim" our spot?

I have to admit I've never gone out of my way to see the breweries' parade so can't tell you what to expect. Maybe someone else has some experience with this.

Personally I wouldn't aim to get there too early - it's not a long route, so if you arrived at the Wiesn entrance and felt it was too crowded you could easily walk till you found a suitable spot. If you have time on your hands I suppose you could watch them getting ready at Josephspitalstrasse (the starting point near Sonnenstrasse) and then either watch from there or move along the route just before they start at 10.45.

As for the Tracht parade, a large crowd does normally form along the route near Odeonsplatz, but I've still managed to watch it there without any problem.

When do the parades start?

too lazy to look 3 posts up? impressive.

Oh, I'm sorry, I should have clarified. Do the Brewery and Tracht parades also start at 10:45 like the "Grand entry of the Oktoberfest landlords and breweries" which seems to be a completely different thing? I looked at www.festring-muenchen.de but there's no time listed there -- or my German isn't good enough to find it.

No, it starts at 10am like it says in the 2nd post. Seriously, no espeaka englisha?

I'd normally try to be nice...but...well...you're making it difficult...
There's two parades, both are listed above...with times.

Oh well, my sincerest apologies for making it difficult for you.

I suppose it's completely out of the realm of possibility that someone unfamiliar with Oktoberfest parades would think that there were three or four different parades and wanted to know when the other two parades started.

or that someone can't read

For some reason, honest errors and oversights make some TT regulars, especially the ones who don't seem to have anything better to do, really sarcastic and rude. Look at it this way: you've helped them feel superior. It's like giving money to untalented street performers.

I don't think it was even that she doesn't have the ability to read, I think it's just pure laziness.

Is there a parade on 30.Sep.2007?

Need to get down Ludwigstrasse this morning. Does anyone know if there is a parade or streets blocked off? Have to get right around Veterinariastr(??), quite close to Seiglstor.

No parade today. All clear.

I checked and they'll be going the same routes this year, so the map above's still valid.

Veranstaltungsdaten:
Samstag, 20. September 2008, 10:55 Uhr
Aufstellung des Zuges: Josephspitalstraße
Zugweg: östliche Sonnenstraße, Schwanthalerstraße, Hermann-Lingg-Straße, Bavariaring, Theresienwiese, Festwiese.

Veranstaltungsdaten:
Münchner Trachten- und Schützenzug
Sonntag, 21. September 2008, 10 Uhr
Zugweg: Maximilianstraße - Residenzstraße - Ludwigstraße (Schleife südlich der Galeriestraße) - Odeonsplatz - Briennerstraße - Amiraplatz – Kardinal-Faulhaber-Straße – Promenadeplatz – Pacellistraße - Lenbachplatz - Karlsplatz-Stachus - Sonnenstraße - Paul-Heyse-Straße - Georg-Hirth-Platz - Kaiser-Ludwig-Platz - Schubertplatz - Festwiese.