Oktoberfest – the world’s largest funfair and folk festival

Oktoberfest in September?

Being invited in Munich at the end of September for the Ocktoberfest can be confusing: isn’t it too early, to start celebrating? I didn’t know that the event always lasts two weeks, and always ends the first weekend of October. This year is the 189th edition, and it will see over 9,000 traditional costumers, marksmen, flag-wavers, hunters and members of bands and marching bands from Germany and also abroad, joining a seven-kilometre-long procession and then spending some times eating and drinking in the various tents.

Can you have fun if you are a teetotal?

The tents are, of course, beer lovers paradise. Everything is special about them: the traditional wooden architecture, the flowers, the vintage signs, the Bavarian food, the huge mugs, the live music. Some are very exclusive (meaning that a seta there is so in demand, that one has to book a lot in advance, pay a lot and sometimes even know someone, and be recommended), some are more for families, some are more vintage.

I couldn’t believe when my friend Cecilia invited me, because she knows that I have never drank a drop of alcohol. It was almost an experiment for us, and I must say it was big fun. Münich is  a large city, of course, but its opennes and community spirit is the warmest in Germany, so after the first minutes I realised nobody was judging me, and I started to sing and dance with everybody.

If you are a teetotal, here was my trick: I took a mug to cheer, then always put it down full without touching it. Best way not to be judged. And best way to enjoy without a headache the day after!