A Bavarian’s Guide for everything you need to know about Oktoberfest

Well folks it is that time of year again – where the trees begin to change, cider and fireball start flowing and tailgating becomes a weekend blackout tradition. However, if your an ex-pat living in Germany like me, we leave those traditions behind for a much more European fall. A 2 week all-day long festival celebrating the best of Germany (aka beer and pretzels) or as most know it – Oktoberfest. Luckily for me, working in Germany has its perks, meaning a boss who has been going to Oktoberfest since he was 2 years old (Just kidding — but honestly probably true – thanks Peter!) Here’s A Bavarians Guide to Oktoberfest.

1. Know the traditions – Fast Facts about Oktoberfest  

  • Average waitresses can carry around 6 liters of beer
  • There are between 8,000-12,000 people in one tent (so get ready to sweat your ass off)
  • All tents play live traditional German music, so don’t expect to hear Despasito blasting through the speakers
  • Treat your girl right – buy her some cookie hearts
  • All of the tents serve different types of beer
  • On the first opening Saturday there is a parade where every beer provider comes in by horse and deliver barrels of beer to tents. (This also provides a good opportunity to sneak into the more popular tents.)
  • EVERYTHING IS ALL CASH ONLY, don’t be the foreigner who tries to pay with a credit card
  • On the first Saturday they do not serve beer until 12pm, (after the parade) after Saturday the beer starts flowing from 9:00am
  • Sitting at a table requires a reservation, the reservation periods are from 12pm-5pm, 7-11pm 
  • Special note to self – eat lots of pretzels to prevent total inebriation

2. Dress to impress

  • Dirndl and lederhosen are said to be optional but in reality they are mandatory
  • FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DONT WEAR SNEAKERS (unless they are the limited edition Nike Oktoberfest approved)
  • For the ladies, don’t wear ballerinas (there are lots of drunk people with glass mugs which means lots of glass (and dignity) end up broken on the floor – you get the picture) Wear something more like combat boots with thick sole
  • Know how to tie your Dirndl –  if you are single – tie on the left, married/taken – tie on the right, widow tie in the back, virgin – tie in the middle

3. Figure out a game plan 

If you’re like me and a last-minute planner at everything – you need to have some sort of game plan. Most people book tables almost a year in advance, however, it is really common to share tables with people or if you ask. You can also sit in the biergarten if you can’t get into the tent.

4. Know your tents

There are 14 tents that make up the Oktoberfest.. here’s a quick breakdown of them all:

  • Marstall – The “kinda” wanna be celebrity tent
  • Hacker-Festhalle – or as Peter calls it – The Heaven of Bavaria Tent. This is one of the most traditional and authentic tents.
  • Käfer’s Wies’n-Schänke – The REAL celebrity tent. You can find famous soccer players and even the American hero Arnold Swartzengger.  However, don’t get your hopes up of brushing shoulders with celebs – they mostly hang in the top balconies, – separate from the party crowd
  • Side note: They also have a biergarten that serves as the unofficial after party of Oktoberfest. Here they serve hot go caparinia and are open until 3:00am
  • Fischer Vroni – Exactly what it sounds like, the fish tent. Good for food but wouldn’t recommend tangling tongues with anyone here (fish breath – need I say more?) Overall, the tent is good but more traditional
  • Ochsenbraterei (Spatenbräu-Festhalle) – This tent is famous for all the different ways they serve Ox. It’s not very pretty inside but it’s almost always has open tables if you need a place to sit.
  • Armbrustschützen-Festhalle– This tent is okay, it’s a smaller tent, with not too much happenin’. Good for just relaxing and having a beer.
  • Hofbräu Festzelt – This tent is known for being the international party tent (they even have statue hung with bras from all over the world that you can admire) there is also standing room and lots of drunk tourists.
  • Augustiner-Festhalle –  This tent has more of the family atmosphere, not really party tent, so best to stay away.
  • Schottenhamel – This is a tradtional party tent, the unique thing here is that you sit in a square vs. long tables and there is a lot more music
  • Pschorr-Bräurosl – Good beer and good atmospthere tip. If you are gay you can go second weekend they have a gay weekend!
  • Winzerer Fähndl – Another family oriented tent, not too fun for partying but good to pregame.
  • Schützen-Festzelt – There is a beautiful view of mother Bavaria, however, there are mostly wannabes in this tent.
  • Weinzelt – This tent is unique in that it only serves wine. They do serve wheat beer in half liter glasses but its one of less traditional -boujee tents with high-class peeps.
  • Löwenbräu-Festhalle–  Lowen sounds like lower, which describes why its probably the worst of the Oktoberfest tents – the beer is crappy, people trashy and a smaller tent.

In Old Oktoberfest:

  • Oide Wiesn – This little tent is in the old Oktoberfest. It is a family friendly, restricted area and cost about 2-3 euros to enter, all the old historical rollercoasters, only one beer tent – very historical.

5. Tips and tricks 

  • Saturday is the most crowded day – If you want to try your luck with sharing/getting  a table…
    • Try during the table shift
    • If you want a good spot- be there at 9:00am – the more early the better
    • If you don’t see free tent you can try to go to waiter and ask if they have a table. If you are foreign let them know that you are visitors and if it is possible to sit down. (They often will sit you bc they get paid for serving you beer)
  • Rules:
  • There is no smoking allowed in tents
  • After that – pretty much anything goes
  • Getting there:
    • Depending on where you are coming from there are many ways to get there. The best bet is by train if you’re not staying in the city center and then getting off about 2 stations from the main station to walk to Oktoberfest – subways are really packed. Also they are very strict on no drinking and driving so best to leave the car at home.
  • Misc info
    • Toilets and bathrooms – with lots of beer means lots of bathroom breaks – causing the queue quite to get quite long – also big tents only have one toilet area so best of luck with that.
    • A letter of beer is around 11 euro, and you should tip your server!
    • Food is also quite expensive during Oktoberfest, you can expect to pay between 12-20 euro
    • Watch your belongings, thieves love this place, especially stealing phones
    • There is also the possibility of drinks being drugged. Be careful on this and never take beer off tables or from strangers. 
    • Overall Oktoberfest is very safe – Munich has a tunnel system set in place – so police can be there within minutes if something goes wrong. There are also tons of police and security controls patrolling the area and they are very nice!
  • Last but not least – Do the Rollercoasters before you drink (you can thank me later for this one)

6. Post-fest activities 

  • People watch the G-ram with escalator — great to watch drunk people fall
  • The Drunk Hill – All I was told is that bad things happen here so enter with caution

If you’re heading to Oktoberfest for the first time, you can checkout some more of my insider tips on my TikTok videos and check out my tips on traveling Europe.

Enjoy my content? Be sure to subscribe!

By Bucketlist Experience, Europe Travel