“O’zapft is, (It is tapped!)”
the Lord Mayor of Munich cries as he taps the first keg of beer and officially starts Oktoberfest.
Oktoberfest is a popular festival that takes place in Munich, Germany. It was started to celebrate the wedding of King Ludwig I and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen in October 1810. To end the parade there were horse races. The decision to continue the races led to the beginning of Oktoberfest. The festival was moved to September to have better weather.
Today, people use it to celebrate the Bavarian culture by dressing in traditional clothing and drinking beer that follows the traditional standards for Bavarian beer making. It is held in the last weeks of September until the first Sunday in October. This year, it was held from the 20th of September to the 5th of October. During this time it is attended by about 6 million people.
One of my favourite traditions of the festival are heart-shaped cookies. They come in many different sizes and have messages written on them with icing. They are attached to a ribbon and are worn around the neck. Usually, boys give them to their sweethearts, but they come with varying messages and can be given to anybody. Originally it was chocolate hearts wrapped in red foil, but the trend turned to the cookies. When I was wearing mine, I felt like I was part of the group and all the celebrations.
When we went to Oktoberfest, we decided to visit all the big beer tents. There are 14 of them, not including the many small tents. They were all beautifully decorated inside, with coloured lights and streamers. A few of the tents were designed to look like the maypoles that are present in each town. The tents start filling up at 10 o’clock in the morning and to guarantee a place, you need to make reservations. I enjoyed the atmosphere in the tents. It was fun to see everyone being happy, drinking, and singing along to the songs played by the live bands. It made me feel good seeing all those people celebrating and having fun together.
The food at the festival was really interesting. There were many foods that we don’t usually see at our fairs at home. There were large salt covered pretzels, roasted chickens and pork on a spit, bratwurst, grilled fish on a stick, horse sausages, and many others. I tried a horse sausage, and it was a bit spicy and and I wouldn’t have guessed that it was horse if I hadn’t known. The one I found most interesting were the sweet treats. There were no deep-fried Mars bars. Instead, there was fruit covered in chocolate! It was very pretty as some of it was made to look like little animals, and I think we should adopt this at our fairs.
As part of the grounds, there are rides which Zoe and I had a lot of fun riding. Our favourites were the tall swing ride and the German Polar Express. There were many fair games as well, and it reminded us of the CNE back at home with a German twist.
We even saw a merry go round type of ride with a live band playing traditional music to accompany the amusement.
During the festival, we saw a lot of people wearing the traditional Bavarian clothing. There were the dirndls for girls and lederhosen for the boys. I especially liked the dirndls because they were all so pretty and came in every colour of the rainbow. We learned that there is no particular dress type and material that each town has to wear, it’s whatever the person fancies. We liked them so much, we purchased our own! I am very glad we bought them and I can’t wait to do a fashion show when we come back to Canada!
Like all good things, Oktoberfest must come to an end. It doesn’t finish quietly, but with a bang. The festival is officially ended with a 12-gun salute. I think it would be amazing to see how this fun festival finishes.
While here in Munich, we stayed with Couchsurfers Anja, Francois and their two little kids Charlotte (5) and Phillipe (3). We had a wonderful time with them and really appreciated their hospitality. Anja and Francois made us amazing French food like Beef Bourguinon, which was really delicious. We also had fun on our walk through Grafing with Francois and Phillipe. We really enjoyed this experience and appreciate their kindness and generosity in sharing their home with us.
Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit
Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit.
OANS ZWOA DREI! G’SUFFA!
A toast, a toast
To cheer and good times
A toast, a toast
To cheer and good times.
ONE TWO THREE! DRINK UP!
Comments
15 responses to “Ein Prosit, Ein Prosit….”
Mikhaila, I have celebrated Oktoberfest in Waterloo, Ontario, where there is a large German population (and where I went to university), but I am sure it is nothing like “The Real Thing” in Munich! I hope you left the beer-tasting to your parents, though… 😉
Hi Ms. Little,
I would like to visit other Oktoberfests around the world to compare them to the one in Munich. You don’t need to drink beer to have fun at Oktoberfest!
Oh the memories of Ontario’s Oktoberfest in Kitchener when Uncle Paul and I went to Laurier! Nice to see you are experiencing the “real deal”!
Hello Teta Colleen,
It’s neat to see how other places around the world celebrate other countries’ traditions. One day I’d like to go to Kitchener’s Oktoberfest to compare it to Munich’s.
Once again Mikhaila, I feel like I was at Oktoberfest with you. Those beer tents looked pretty full. I really like your new dirndls too, you look like you fit right in at the festival. Great picture of the whole event.
It certainly was an exciting food day for the whole family too, horse sausage, cookies…..beer for some no doubt?
Love Teta Doreen
Hi Teta Doreen,
I had a lot of fun shopping for the dirndls. They are so beautiful and I could’ve spent a whole day in there! It was really enjoyable trying the different Oktoberfest foods that aren’t easy to find in Canada like the heart cookies.
Wowsa!!!! I had no idea how much the German people loved all things tacky! ( and I’m German!)
I guess that they save it up for Octoberfest because it sure is colourful and busy! Your pictures are so much fun that I had to look at them slowly, two times. And you girls look awesome in your new outfits . While I have not met you … Yet… I am so looking forward to hearing more when you return.
Hi Herta,
OKtoberfest is even better if you can experience it in real life. It was a really fun festival and I would go back again. When we get back from our trip, I’m sure that we’ll have an endless supply of stories to share.
Hi, Mikhaila, what a fun post. I had no idea that Oktoberfest was soooo big, and so many wonderful things to do and to see. It looks like you all had a lot of fun. Love the Dirndle and especially the photo of you both and your Mom. Gazillion XOXOXO’s
Hello Oma,
Oktoberfest is a lot bigger than I expected; the tents, stalls, and crowds were huge and it had a really happy atmosphere! 🙂
A marvellous account of the Oktoberfest, Mikhaila. Great pictures. I love those colourful dirndls on you both.
Hi Chris,
This has been another fun adventure that we have been able to enjoy on the trip. The Bavarian culture and traditions are really beautiful and I’m glad I had the opportunity to attend.
Hello Mikhaila,
Oh! This was a great Blog! I loved everything you wrote about! I noticed that they had various sizes of cookies–they all looked beautiful and yummy. Those tents were very attractive inside, decorated so beautifully! You girls look lovely in your dirndls, and it was really interesting to see a live band playing on the amusement ride! It also is so nice to hear that everyone was singing and very happy! (“With a song in my heart….”) Love Baba
Hello Baba,
The cookies came in all sizes; I even saw a girl with a heart cookie as big as a purse! I liked looking inside the tents to see how differently each one was decorated. The dirndls on all the girls were beautiful and I found it interesting how all the tents had their band stages decorated with themes to match the tent. I enjoyed Oktoberfest and hope to go back in the future.
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