This is Munich, and we are at the world’s largest folk festival.
More than 6 million people from around the world come here.
This is easily the most popular celebration in Germany.
The Oktoberfest.
Oktoberfest is probably the festival that many people think of
when they think of Germany.
To locals, it is also known as 'Wiesn'.
As the name suggests, this annual beer festival is celebrated in autumn,
but, despite its name, the majority of the festival does not actually take place in October.
It typically begins on the third Saturday in September,
and ends on the first Sunday of October.
Depending on the year.
In the last two years, Oktoberfest was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This year it’s back.
And without any Covid restrictions.
Fun fact, the reason Oktoberfest starts in September and not in October,
is because of the weather.
They moved it to earlier in September so that they can have good weather.
But looking around here, it seems like next time, they should start in August itself.
Though the fairground opens by 9 AM on opening day,
the festival doesn’t officially start until noon.
There’s a big crowd of people over there.
Looks like, that’s where the parade is happening.
Before noon, at 10:45 AM, however, the Grand Parade of the Oktoberfest landlords
and breweries takes place.
You can already see the crowd standing on the street from far away.
We came just in time.
Look at the guy on the cycle.
Oh, wow!
Munich residents and tourists alike, did not want to miss this opportunity
to follow the colourful train of magnificent carriages and
musicians in traditional dresses.
They’re bringing in the beer.
And not just the landlords.
Even the beer barrels supplied by the six Munich breweries
are on their way to the tents, pulled by horses.
Originally, Oktoberfest didn’t start off as a folk festival.
It was first celebrated in 1810 to honour the marriage of Prince Ludwig,
the Crown Prince of Bavaria, and Princess Therese.
The citizens of Munich were invited to celebrate and participate in the royal festivities
in front of the city gates.
They celebrated with plenty of food, drinks, music, and other spectacles.
Since then, Oktoberfest has become an annual tradition.
While Munich is home to the original Oktoberfest, other German cities quickly adopted the festival.
More surprisingly, around 29 countries besides Germany
have their own Oktoberfest celebrations today.
After seeing the parade, we just walked to Theresienwiese.
Getting here is very easy through both public transport and taxi.
The fairgrounds open at 10 AM on weekdays, and 9 AM on weekends.
The crowd is a bit crazy here.
Yeah.
One of the best things about Oktoberfest is that
you don’t actually need tickets to enter the grounds or any of the tents.
If you want to reserve a table at a beer tent, however,
keep in mind, they need to be booked months in advance.
We advise getting there as early as possible.
Especially on the weekends to avoid suffocating crowds, long queues to the rides,
and most importantly, to find a place at the beer tents.
Without a reservation, there is no guarantee that they will let you inside
if the tents are too crowded.
Oh wow, looks crazy.
So well done.
Inside I'm wearing the traditional dress but unfortunately it is very cold.
So I have to wear the jacket on top and it's raining also.
There is no mandatory dress code for Oktoberfest.
However, locals like wearing traditional Bavarian Tracht to the festival.
Tracht refers to the traditional dress of the region.
Men wear Lederhosen and a Bavarian Trachten shirt, with a checkered pattern.
Women, on the other hand, wear a Dirndl.
A traditional dress with a white blouse and an apron tied to the waist.
Fun fact, if the bow on the apron is tied to the left,
it traditionally signifies that the woman is single.
If it's on the right, she is taken.
Though it’s a traditional dress worn in southern Germany,
tourists are welcome to wear it.
Just keep in mind that these traditional dresses are a bit pricey.
So if you’re going to only wear them once, it might not be worth it for you to buy them.
I’ve never worn anything like this before, because this Lederhosen is secondhand.
I got it secondhand, and you can see that I’m wearing a white shirt,
instead of a checkered shirt also.
At noon on the very first day of the Oktoberfest, the mayor of Munich carries out a 70-year-old tradition,
in the Schottenhamel tent.
Just one minute left.
He taps the very first keg of beer, and exclaims “O’zapft is!”
Meaning, “It’s tapped” and then fills the first glass of beer.
Once the keg is tapped, 12 gunshots are fired, officially commencing Oktoberfest.
It was raining and we didn’t make it to the Schottenhamel tent in time.
But the gunshots can be heard in the other tents as well.
Signalling us as well that Oktoberfest has begun.
And only now, beer can be served to the public.
Ein Prosit, a popular drinking song,
is played frequently at the tents.
At the end of the song, it is tradition to cheer glasses with everyone at the table.
And to take a sip of your drink.
Beer is one of the most important elements of Oktoberfest.
It is after all, a beer festival.
The beer tents are the highlights of Oktoberfest and this is where all the action happens.
From drinking, live music, dancing, singing to being served delicious food.
There are around 17 large tents and 21 smaller tents.
Each has its own unique design, colour scheme, theme and personality.
The atmosphere inside each one, therefore, differs as well.
And combined, all these tents can accommodate around 100,000 guests.
The drink inside is 1 litre.
And the glass weighs around 1.3 kg, so in total, I’m holding 2.3 kg here,
but imagine those waiters.
They hold like 10 different glasses in one go.
Alcohol-free beer.
We felt really hungry.
So before drinking a beer, we wanted to find some food.
Luckily, drinks aren’t the only thing being served at Oktoberfest.
Roaming the 42-hectare fairground, partying and drinking requires energy.
At Oktoberfest, there’s plenty of food to fuel up.
From mouthwatering hot meals at the beer tents, to snacks and sweets at the smaller stalls at the fairground.
There’s a lot of food options here.
And my personal favourite is Käsespätzle.
It’s also a vegetarian dish.
Käsespätzle is a dish made out of egg pasta or dumplings and cheese.
Often compared to Mac’n’Cheese.
If you’re a vegetarian, just double check and mention not to add any bacon bits to the dish.
They are really very eco-friendly here because even this plate is edible.
Sausages are the last thing you’ll expect to be vegetarian.
But they are vegan here.
I’ve never had it ever in my life till now.
Let’s see how it tastes.
It tastes very meaty.
Not my kind of taste.
Regarding sweet things, Germknödel is one of my favourites.
It’s full of plum inside.
And there’s poppy seeds on them.
Really tasty.
These potato tornadoes behind me I really like them too,
but they are a bit too heavy and I think it’s enough for the lunch today.
This day would be incomplete without taking a look at the rides and the attractions.
Behind me is the world’s largest transportable rollercoaster.
It is called the Olympia Looping and there are 5 different loops.
In general also, there are 80 different rides here at Oktoberfest.
So there’s a lot to do for adults and kids.
Another favourite is the Ferris wheel, which is the landmark of Oktoberfest
and has been around since 1979.
It takes you up to 50 metres above the ground from where you get the full view of the fairground.
One travel tip here, if you’re visiting with children
you can avail discounts on food, rides, and performances,
every Tuesday until 7 PM.
As these are the family days of Oktoberfest.
Make sure you also carry cash as it is unlikely that the stalls and tents
will accept credit or debit cards.
In addition to rides, there are fun games and attractions as well.
Some involve shooting, others involve hitting a wooden hammer on a disk
forcing a small cart to go up and ring a bell.
This one is very unique.
You won’t find this anywhere else.
It’s called the Teufelsrad,
or the Devil’s Wheels.
In this game, a group of people enter a spinning wheel at the centre,
and try to hold on for dear life to stay inside the wheel as it rapidly spins around.
The last person to remain on the wheel wins.
And this turntable has been at Oktoberfest since 1910.
The Oktoberfest goes on till the 3rd of October this year.
If you are around, do try to visit.
Also, do subscribe to the DW Travel channel for more such videos.
See you next time.