This is the big one! Oktoberfest is the world's biggest beer festival. For 16 days around 7 million visitors come to Munich and consume aproximately 6 million liters of beer in 14 giant beer tents.
The Oktoberfest 2008 dates are:
Saturday 20th September
. . . until . . .
Sunday 5th October
Photo courtesy of: oktoberfest.de
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Location
The Oktoberfest takes place on one site, an open field known as the Wies'n. This site is about 600 meters south-west of Munich's central station, Germany. The beer tents each have capacity for over 5,000 people, and are open from 10am til 10.30pm every day (from 9am on weekends). In addition to the beer tents there are hundreds of food stalls and fun-fair rides.
Reservations
Reserving a table at the Oktoberfest can be an adventure. The important thing is to plan ahead. The weekends are usually fully booked nine months in advance.
There is an obligatory amount of beers and chickens to be purchased in order to guarantee the reservation. It's best to check out the official website oktoberfest.de.
A few of the less touristy tents I prefer are the Schützenzelt, Hippodrom, Kaefer, Nymphenburger.
It's much better to reserve than trying to chance upon a space for 16 people. Remember that you will have to book in blocks of 10 so it is sometimes a good idea to either buy space from someone else or to share a block application with someone you know.
Tents
There are 14 big tents at the Oktoberfest. These are:
Armbrustschützenzelt, Augustiner-Festhalle, Bräurosl, Fischer Vroni, Hacker-Festzelt, Hippodrom, Hofbräu Festzelt, Käfers Wiesn Schänke, Löwenbräu-Festhalle, Ochsenbraterei, Schottenhamel, Schützenfestzelt, Weinzelt, Winzerer Fähndl
Miscellaneous
The Wiesn card which was introduced in 2004 has been abandoned for 2005. Not enough vendors were interested in using it.
See also
For more info see:
- oktoberfest.de - The official website
- MunichNights.com / Wiesn - An alternative view
See also the various TT chat forum topics: