Who is going and who wants to know about it?

This year is the 200th anniversary of the first celebration.

Just under 175 days away until the festivities kick off.

PROST!!!

Oh wow 200th one .. man that is going to be PACKED. Good luck for those that want to go that dont already have reservations.

I hadnt heard about that on TV here yet even, that it was the 200th one, I guess it will be a big deal come September. Ill for sure go to the Wasen at least 1-2 times again this year, though this time Ill have a waterproof camera, as my camera fell in my Masskrug :/ it was my 2nd dead camera last year.

Maybe Ill even go to the Wies'n this year again, my supervisor has a table reserved for every year, I could probably weasel my way in if I suck up to him a bit lol.

[This message has been edited by Randy03 (edited 3/30/2010 4:05a).]

Randy, I would love to actually meet you in the flesh and destroy every fiber of our collective non-alcoholic beings.

I am planning on going to the Wassen and would enjoy hanging out with you upon my and my "team's" arrival. Additionally I would enjoy your arrival and "participation" in the festivites in Munich for the Wiesn.

Let me know as between the two of us we can dispell all rumors anc create quite a few more. What do you think?



[This message has been edited by dcAg (edited 4/1/2010 11:48p).]

I went last year and wasn't that impressed. Its just a big carnival, with some beer tents. If you don't have reservations, no beer, except for a couple of stands outside of the tents. Good luck finding nearby restrooms as well. There is a lot better stuff to do in Bavaria.

agforester,

I feel poorly for you as it sounds like you really didnt get to fully experience the Wiesn.

Just by your comments which are very much inaccurate as far as my experiences which are vast it sounds like you needed a "guide".

Sorry you didnt get the full experience. The Oktoberfest definitely isnt for everyone.

[This message has been edited by dcAg (edited 4/3/2010 4:20p).]

His report isnt "inaccurate" it is representative of what can happen if you are a foreigner and you go without language skills and without reservations. Also if you arent a drinker it could be annoying with the masses of completely drunk folks falling around, this is worse at the Wiesn than the Wasen.

However, dcAg is also correct, if you had someone to show you around, you had reservations and could really take in the thing without the stress of not understanding what is going on, or being able to get a beer easily, then it is more fun. With that said, the Wasen or Wiesn is certainly not for everyone, the Wasen is more of a carnival and less of a beerfest and the Wiesn has evolved into a beerfest and less of a Volksfest.

Oh and the Canstatter Frühlingsfest on the Wasen grounds starts in a few weeks, so Ill go visit a tent for yall .. my wife has said that we are going for certain a few times. For those that dont understand, they actually have TWO Volksfeste per year, one to celebrate spring and one to celebrate fall. The fall one tends to be bigger, as that is harvest time and so its time to enjoy, also due to the whole Wiesn tradition, the harvest September/October time has become the big Volksfest time. However, the spring Volksfest also has beer tents, but is a bit smaller. Im not sure if there is a Frühlingsfest in München, but Id assume so. I have never been there in the spring, maybe Ill make a visit in the next month to visit my prof, who knows.

[This message has been edited by Randy03 (edited 4/6/2010 3:23a).]

Randy,
I stick by my statement as I stated, "your comments which are very much inaccurate as far as my experiences...". So in other words you agree with me.

Also because of your personal exposure to the Wiesn I suggest that you stay out of what the Wiesn is and what it isnt.

My offer to buy you a bier at the Wassen or the Wiesn still exists. Let me know if you dare actually have fun and drink a litre of bier with a fellow Ag.

Only 161 days until the 200th anniversary of the first Oktoberfest kicks off!



[This message has been edited by dcAg (edited 4/9/2010 10:21p).]

[This message has been edited by dcAg (edited 4/9/2010 10:22p).]

156 days until kick off!!!

150 days until the festivities kick off!!!

Fruehlingsfest opened last Saturday at the Wasen, it will run 3 weeks. Its a scaled down version of the fall version, but most of the beer tents are there. I figure I will go some time in the next 3 weeks, will have to see.

I can see where someone could have a bad time at Octoberfest. My group lucked out when we went. There were 8 of us looking for a table forever. Finally, I saw a couple of old German guys at a reserved table sitting by themselves. I said in my piss-poor German: Halo! Ich bien Americaner. Warum bekommen ich kein bier? (Why do I have no beer?)

The laughed and slid a full liter down the table to me. When the old men saw the 4 girls with me, they thought they'd hit the jackpot.
They said they loved Texans & that Bavarians were like the Texans of Germany. Good times.

I have been to Oktoberfest in Munich 5 times and have never made a reservation. You just have to get there early and snag a table. And by early, I mean like 7:30 - 8:00 a.m., if you are going on the weekend. I haven't been on a weekday, so I'm not sure what time the tents fill up then.

I love Oktoberfest! We went last in 2008 and may try to shoot for 2011 or 2012. Can't make it this year since our big trip of the year is to St. Lucia.

just like last year, i will be there again.

ason,
When will you be there? What tents do you prefer?

A group of 7 of us will be there Sept 17-22. Anyone else going to be there around that time?

dc, last year we went the second weekend, which this year would be 24,25 sept. my boss has a table at some tent that saturday (dont know the name, just know they serve spaten).

this year i may go during the week with my friend (also an a&m grad) to avoid the weekend crowds though. i live in prague, so its only a 3 hour drive for me.

when are you thinking of going?

[This message has been edited by ason (edited 4/25/2010 10:40a).]

I land on September 23 and leave on October 2. So I will be there the middle week and many weekedays!

If anyone going to the Wiesn needs a hotel room let me know and I will put them in contact with a place that has some rooms reserved for my team.

are you flying in just for that? how many are you? i will be going for sure, just dont know the time or how many people will join me.

ason,

We are going as sort of a reunion as we usually do. We will be based in Munich the entire time we are there. We will probably take a couple of day trips but most festivities will revolve around the Wiesn.

This will be a small year in terms of numbers for us. There will be 6 of us for the 9 nights we are there and we will probably get to about 16 or so during the height of or time there.

When are you going?

ason?

sorry for the late response, i was in london for an extended weekend and somehow forgot to get on texags.

like i said, i am only a 3 hour drive away from munich as i live in prague, so i can make it down anyday. most likely, i will try to get there for a long weekend (thursday through sunday), but it also depends on my friend who wants to come down with me. once it gets closer to the event i will let you know.

btw, if you want to take a day trip to prague, i will be more than happy to show you guys some good time here, afterall, we have plenty of beer too

btw, just found out i am going to munich this saturday through tuesday. do you know any good places to have dinner? the criteria are a) good beer, b) good food c)centrally located.

have been to hofbrauhaus before, but thats about it. any other cool bavarian pubs you recommend.

ason,
Hopefully we will have extra seats for our table reservation(s) if you are interested. We havent confirmed yet but are working on them.

Thanks for the Prague invite. We went in 2004 while on our Munich trip and havent made plans to venture outside of Munich this trip. But I will keep it on our list.

I do know of a couple of good restaurants but dont know the names of them. Munich has a pretty good array of food so you cant really go wrong. There is a nice pub Killians/Ned Kelley's behind the Church with the two large towers. Many of the other bier halls have pretty good traditional German food.

dc, thanks for the offer, i am interested for sure. let me know how you guys decide on prague.

ason,

I'll keep you up to date. It is probably a no go for Prague this year but we'll see. It depends primarily on what nights we get our table reservations.

You are going to name some sort of tourist pubs by name but not the Marienkirche? Strange ..

Randy,

Yep. Do you think anyone on this board knows what the Frauenkirche is? Or do they know the Church with the the two large towers?

We just got our reservation confirmed for Kafer on Tuesday, Sept 21. We have 3 extra spots in case anyone is interested in joining us.

rmag,

I would take you up on your reservation offer but the 21st is two days before I land. How did you get your reservations? Where are your seats?

125 days and counting.

We contacted the tents directly. So far we have a reservation for Kafer and Schottenhamel. We were offered a reservation for the Hofbrau tent after we had already booked the other 2. I emailed the tents from their websites and heard back within 2-3 days.

Interesting as a number of the tents say they dont do reservations by email.

Timing is everything.

Exactly, those 3 tents were the only ones I emailed and I got lucky. Try the Hofbrau tent--I emailed them last Monday and heard back within 24 hours via email. Good luck!

i'll be in munich sept 24th-28th this year for oktoberfest. have never gone before. reading through this thread has been somewhat helpful and alarming at the same time, lol.