Four days of froth and fun at Bavaria’s biggest beer swilling carnival is the ultimate exercise in stamina.
Our group had been in beer training for the past five years or so, sinking drinks on the hill each year at Oktoberfest in Kembla Grange.
But nothing could prepare us for the staggering size – and the number of staggering individuals - at Oktoberfest in Munich, the home of the biggest beer festival on the European calendar.
We conquered the litre stein (several, if truth be told), a half-metre long bratwurst and ended each night with a new set of jolly German best friends.
The annual ritual takes place at a large ground near the centre of Munich, where the city’s main breweries erect beer ‘tents’ – although aeroplane hangars is probably a more accurate description. Inside each packed tent there are thousands of people standing on tables with buckets of beer in their hands from 10am until midnight. More than seven million drop into the event each year, and between them consume at least six million litres of beer ( it’s not served in smaller sizes. Bigger is clearly better in Bavaria). There’s also a funfair that dwarfs that at the Royal Easter Show.
Here’s a rundown of our typical day:
11am: Arrive at the grounds. The Hopfbrau beer house – a favourite of international travellers, and certainly the rowdiest – is already in full swing. A peek inside reveals thousands of people standing on tables, singing and drinking while dressed in silly hats. Check the watch again – yes, it’s only 11am. There’s already a few people staggering to the pretzel vendor.
11.01 – It takes us one minute to decide to join in the frivolity and brave the first brew. We muscle our way onto an already-packed table, and litres all round are delivered by a waitress carrying eight full litre steins. Wonder woman.
Midday - Buy a silly hat. Why not?? Remind self to drink slowly. Slow and steady wins the race.
Afternoon: Venture outside to jump on the rides. The drunks are particularly amusing. We watch two sozzled teenagers mucking around on the gravity ride, until one falls off his seat and lands on his tail bone. He staggers off to drown his sorrows.
Evening – Back into the beer tent for a second round of beers. End up sitting with a table of German DVD producers, who are leathered up in their lederhosen.
Later that evening: Drink, sing, drink, sing, eat a bratwurst, sing. The German DVD producers are now our very best friends. They’re buying us schnapps and we’re clinking our glasses yelling “Prost!” They give us their business cards, and urge us to keep in touch.
End of the night: Leave the beer tent. Watch a guy fall into a bin. Sing our way to the train station. Go to bed – before waking up and doing it all again.
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