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Oktoberfest

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 2009 dates are:
Saturday 19th September
. . . until . . .
Sunday 4th October



Photo courtesy of: oktoberfest.de

Advertisement link: Octoberfest-Beds.com - for festival accommodation

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.

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, Bräurosl, Fischer Vroni, Hacker-Festzelt, Hippodrom, Hofbräu, Käfers Wiesn Schänke, Löwenbräu, Ochsenbraterei, Schottenhamel, Schützenfestzelt, Weinzelt, Winzerer Fähndl

See also

For more info see:

• oktoberfest.de - The official website
• TT's Oktoberfest chat forum

FestivalsMunich