It is the eve of Oktoberfest and the weather is just splendid for the opening festivities. In the three years I’ve lived in Munich, I believe it has rained the day of the parade in all of them. Now this year I’m in the middle of Cramfest: my first of three exams in Mathematics, Micro/ Macroeconomics, and (forget it, I’m not translating any more) Grundzüge der Wirtschaftsinformatik begin next Tuesday, thus I will miss the parade again.
My Oktoberfest doesn’t start until the 26th of September but I can already hear the brass and taste and smell the beer, schweinhaxen semmeln, Stachelfisch, cotton candy, candied almonds..and oh, I could go on and on.
I do look forward to the Oktoberfest. And then again, I hate Oktoberfest. It reminds of snow bird season in Florida. The crowd factor is out of this world for next two weeks until October 5th. Prices are jacked up, noise.. But to stay on the positive. I’ll offer you Oktoberfesters something cool to check out. You won’t be disappointed.
Plan ahead. Before you hurry by too quickly to grab a spot on bench with strangers (who will then become your singing companion) in a Bierzelt/ Biergarten or you get too overly romanced by the giant Ferris wheel, do check out Feldls Teufelsrad (Feldl’s devil’s wheel) on Schaustellerstraße on the Theresienwiesen. It’s been around since 1910 and has survived decades of trendy carni-venues. For only 3 Euro, it is a steal in all things entertainment:
- you can stay as long as you want,
- you can participate (depending on age, boy/girl, and whether or not you are wearing tracht),
- get out your aggression,
- you can brush up on your Bavarian slang
That about sums it up. It’s different every time and you’ll probably loose track of it too. It’s fun for all ages and sobriety level.
A short clip to give you an idea:
Related:
- on the Feldls Teufelsrad (in German)
- Sip your Oktoberfest beer
Um, well that looks… interesting…
Hope to see you when you emerge from the exams and have some fun together on the Wies’n!
I’ve never thought about it before, but I have the same mild aversion to crowded festivals and maybe it has to do with that massive influx of people into my home state as school started every year. Or maybe I just don’t like crowds!