Willkommen to Oktoberfest!

Germans, I feel, are a somewhat misunderstood lot. They are perceived to be robotic and slaves to time and routine.

But how can a group of people that has invented something as awesome as Oktoberfest be so! Germans, in my opinion, are like a more refined and classical version of the Irish. They like their meat, they like their alcohol and they love their beer!

(On an aside, I stumbled upon a really interesting blog written by an Australian chippie about Germans as people. I suspect most of it is true!)

In short, Germans like to have fun and they know how to as well. The good part is that they like to include everyone else as well. Oktoberfest, the world’s largest beer festival that is held annually in Munich in September-end for around 16 days since 1810 is now attended by an equal number of non-Germans as well.

In fact, the festival has become so popular (it does involve getting intoxicated, after all) that it has spawned watered down versions of the original in every city worth its salt. Hell, even Mumbai sees unimpressive replicas of it every now and then.

The cherry on the froth is that Speyside – the centre of Scotland’s whisky industry – has announced that it will hold the region’s first Oktoberfest beer festival on October 4 and 5 this year oxymoronically titled 'The Speyside Beer Festival'! Four microbreweries in Moray will be joining forces for this. Hmmm...

It’s tapped!

The opening of the Oktoberfest (called ‘die Wiesn’ by the locals) is a big deal so you might want to be present when it happens. It has a traditional opening with a 12-gun salute after which the Mayor of Munich taps the first keg of the Oktoberfest beer at 12 pm sharp with a “Ozapft is!” (‘It's tapped!’).

This ‘mayor’ or the Oktoberfest burgermeister is an important figure. He has a number of duties including pouring the first beer, awarding prize ribbons and overseeing the festivities. What a job! In case this appeals to you, the Vienna Business Association is looking for a burgermeister for its Oktoberfest celebration.

The festival ground has a lot of huge tents where everyone drinks. To enter them, you will need advance reservations. To know more on how to choose your tent, read this interesting article, aptly titled: Which tent to visit at Oktoberfest 2013?

For more details on the festival, you can visit the Oktoberfest official site that has a lot of useful and interesting information – even things like the Oktoberfest dictionary that is a practical guide to communicating with drunk Bavarians. 

Meanwhile, you can enjoy this funky but meaningless ‘Disco Oktoberfest’ that someone with a lot of time and not much creativity has made.