Besides being Constitution Day, today is the opening ceremonies for this year\u2019s Oktoberfest.\u00a0
For the past two years, the largest Oktoberfest in the world has been cancelled due to corona. Today, after a two-year break, Oktoberfest in Munich opens \u2014 at 12 noon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oktoberfest began as the marriage ceremony between Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese on October 12, 1810. All of the townspeople were invited to attend the festival, which took place in the fields outside the city gates. Following the wedding the fields were named Theresienwiese after the Princess, and the party was such a hit that the townspeople asked King Ludwig to continue the celebration the following year.\u00a0
Today the remnants of the gates still stand and the fields, known by locals as the Wies\u2019n, now host the largest beer festival in the world \u2014 Oktoberfest! (Wies\u2019n means field or meadow in the Bavarian dialect.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What was a simple wedding celebration has transformed into a 17 or 18-day festival in which 7 million people from around the world participate \u2014 consuming more than 6 million liters of Bavarian beer. That equates to 1 million gallons of beer. Oktoberfest officially begins on the second to last Saturday in September at noon when the mayor of Munich taps the first barrel at the Schottenhamel Tent, crying \u201cO\u2019zapft is\u201d (It\u2019s open.) The festival concludes the first Sunday of October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The grounds known as Theresienwiese is usually called \u201cFestwiese\u201d by the locals. Half of the year, the grounds are simply a public park. Around June, the tents and fun fair foundations begin their staggered process of construction with a completion date of late September, just in time for the beginning of the festival. The area hosts a space of 420,000 square feet and is easy to get to from central Munich. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve mentioned in the past that I\u2019ve never been to Oktoberfest in Munich, but I\u2019ve been to Oktoberfest in Frankfurt \u2014 Munich is supposedly the largest Oktoberfest in the world, but it\u2019s hard to imagine anything larger than the one I attended in Frankfurt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
All beer served at Oktoberfest is 13.5% Stammw\u00fcrze, which equates to around 6% alcohol content. The drinking age for beer and wine in Germany is 16. Distilled alcohols, like spirits can be purchased at age 18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The majority of the 16 to 18 days of Oktoberfest take place in September, not October. The first Oktoberfest was the wedding of the Bavarian Crown Prince in October of 1810. Since the party was so well received, the festival was repeated in the following years and extended \u2014 and at some point, brought forward into September. The weather probably played a role in moving the dates \u2014 the Munich weather in September is just right for Oktoberfest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In case you\u2019re planning on going to Oktoberfest in Munich, be sure to bring cash \u2014 the tents don\u2019t accept credit cards, and know that it\u2019s ok to dance on the benches, but not on the tables \u2014 and steins are ok to buy, but not to steal.
We have an Oktoberfest here in Shepherdstown, at the Bavarian Inn, and I think the same rules apply, except I\u2019m pretty sure you can use a credit card.
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Besides being Constitution Day, today is the opening ceremonies for this year\u2019s Oktoberfest.\u00a0For the past two years, the largest Oktoberfest in the world has been cancelled due to corona. Today, after a two-year break, Oktoberfest in Munich opens \u2014 at … Continue reading