Oktoberfest

Last Sunday brought an end to the 16 day long traditional and lively fest in Germany. The fest was enjoyed with 6.3 million visitors and 6.7 million litres of beer, but it also accompanied 720 arrests, 3,646 lost and found objects, including 900 ID cards and passports, 530 wallets, 330 cell- and Smartphones! But not many know about the roots of this 200 years old Bavarian fest centred in Munich. The tradition was held first time when Prince Ludwig married to Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen on October 12, 1810. Since then the fest has been celebrated each year (except twenty four times due to epidemics and wars).

The fest is also called a “Beerfest”. There are seven enormous beer tents line, called “Wirtsbudenstraße”. This beer is brewed by Munich’s six largest breweries and also has an extract value of about 13%. A litre of beer is called “Maß” and costs about €10.

A glimpse of the ten beer tents:

• Augustiner: Only tent still serving the beer from large wooden barrels
• Bräurosl (Pschorrbräu tent): It is 104 years old but still a capacity of 8400 seats
• Hackerbräu tent: Only tent with a revolving stage in the middle
• Hofbräu tent: Most international tent as it is well known amongst tourists
• Löwenbräu tent: Traditional meeting place for fans and players of 1860 Munich football club
• Ochsenbraterei - Spatenbräu tent: Ox eaters
• Winzerer Fähndl - Paulaner tent: Bavarian charm and the occasional celebrity adds to the spirit of this tent. If you are lucky you might also see players from FC Bayern Munich sometimes here!

Apart from these there are also other smaller local tents adding to the celebration and serving the crowd. If you plan to visit this fest and also enjoy stay in Munich during this fest days, then you might wanna start planning today!

Munich Oktoberfest 2015: September 19 - October 4

Image source: http://www.beer100.com/beercalories.htm