Oktoberfest
[simage=1980,160,c,right,][simage=1960,160,c,right,]‘You come to the Oktoberfest to feast on beer and boobs, lots and lots of them’, said a young, sozzled reveller from an Austrian group with whom I was sharing a table in one of the beer tents. Beer flowing out of huge vats and boobs spilling out of low cut Dirndls! Bacchus chasing Venus! That is October Fest for a large number of visitors. Romance and gay abandonment are very much in the air. Naturally so when the Fest’s origin itself lies in the celebrations following the wedding of the Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig with Princess Theressa more than 200 years ago in the year 1810. We were there in 2010. [simage=1958,144,c,left,]Hey, I am sure you’d like to know early on that the way the waistband of the Dirndl is tied indicates the status of the woman. If it is tied on the right side, please keep off her because she is married, engaged or otherwise taken. If it is tied on the back, she is a widow and you can try your luck. But if it is tied on the left, she is single, free and, maybe, available.
The decision to visit the Fest, like most of my decisions, was unplanned, impulsive and at the eleventh hour. Once I took the decision, I started looking for a place to stay and realized, to my consternation, that hardly any hotel, motel, guest house had a room to spare and the ones which were available were selling at a tariff well beyond my reach. Anyway, a former colleague and dear friend graciously offered to take us in and play the host. He also later helped us get into one of the tents without which the visit would have been meaningless. Mind you, we did not have any reservation as the reservations were done about a year in advance. Of course, some of the tents throw open the venues for a limited number but those are taken generally by early birds who do not mind standing in the queue for hours. Another option is to befriend one of the waiters or waitresses, choice is yours, who are generally adept in getting you inside the tent if they want. Guess, how we got in! So if you are intent on a trip to Munich for the Fest, please do some planning and, at least, fix your accommodation well in time.
[simage=1961,144,c,right,][simage=1951,144,c,right,][simage=1954,144,c,right,]The world famous Oktoberfest of Munich, anachronistically, is celebrated largely in September. The annual celebration only for a few days earlier which started in mid October has over the years been advanced to mid September, as it is still relatively warmer for outside festivities. The duration has also increased to about 15 days ending with the first weekend of October. The locals also call the Fest ”Die Wiesn” based on its location at Theresienwiese named after Princess Theressa. [simage=1968,144,c,left,][simage=1981,144,c,left,][simage=1972,144,c,left,][simage=1965,144,c,left,][simage=1966,144,c,left,][simage=1970,144,c,left,][simage=1969,144,c,left,][simage=1949,144,c,left,][simage=1977,144,c,left,]Colourful events, including Parades, Carnivals, Magic Shows, Rides as well as Booths selling souvenirs, eatables, cigarettes, etc and more than a dozen gigantic beer tents, each bigger than the other and accommodating thousands of revellers, jostle with one another at the festival site and take you on the roller coaster of a drunken revelry, often verging on stupor, if you let yourself loose in the flow. Going around the Fest ground is an experience in itself. I was stupefied to see a young, drunk woman trying to jump out of a window and clearly amused to notice another fellow sleeping peacefully in a thorny bush.
Going to the Fest in your own vehicle is foolish as it is impossible to get a convenient parking during the period. The best is to use the Public Transport network of Munich which is fairly well geared for the occasion. We did precisely that, thanks to our host. The mood for the Fest was set in the train itself as we became a part of the great parade heading towards Ground Zero. It was a delightful sight. Women dressed in colourful Dirndl, a full-skirted dress with a tight bodice and low neck, tantalizingly displaying their ‘assets’ looked all the more feminine and men dressed in shortened, Bavarian leather pants, shirts, waistcoats, Bavarian hats, calf socks and Brogues looked all the more macho. Brogues are traditional, Bavarian shoes with high ride heels, low cut under the ankles and laces on the sides. Lights and music completed the spectacle.[simage=1964,144,c,left,][simage=1978,144,c,left,][simage=1963,144,c,left,]
It is impossible to capture truly the atmosphere of uninhibited revelry inside the tent with thousands of guests, each holding a huge beer mug, dancing, singing, swaying, touching, feeling, hugging, kising in the aisles, on the benches, on the table tops to the live music being crooned, generally, from an elevated centre stage. Like it or not, you get sucked in…Similarly, it is difficult for me to understand how petite, delicate, young waitresses move around with ten large beer mugs, each containing a litre of frothy liquid, in their hands serving the guests with finesse. You have to be there to get the hang of it and, finally, end up hung over.[simage=1971,320,c,center,]
“Oktoberfest”