Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest 2008 kicked off in Munich on Saturday, September 20. It runs for two weeks.

You can enjoy the feel for Oktoberfest at http://www.muenchen-tv.de/

Click on the Livestream button and then the muenchen.tv livestream button, and you can watch the festivities at various times throughout the day. Try the muenchen2.tv button also, because they show some festivities there, too. Last year, they liked to sing John Denver's ,,Country Road"; I heard that over and over again while listening to the livestream. They are singing it this year as well; it's probably a staple now at the fair.

Remember that Germany is 6 hours ahead of EST.

Alex Onkel and Marion Schieder host Wiesn for Muenchen TV. They are funny and great! Here they are singing Robbie Williams' ,,Angels".

Alex and Marion often sit at this table and interview different people! She is such a comedian.


Oktoberfest (aka Wiesn) was first celebrated in 1810 as a celebration of the marriage of Prince Ludwig (of Bavaria) to Princess Theresa Von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. The festival was held in a beautiful meadow called Theresienwiess, in honor of the Princess; 30,000 people showed up!


The beer is served in one liter steins, called ,,ein Mass". The Bavarian custom at the table is not to drink until everyone has a stein. You toast the steins, put the stein on the table with a thud, and then drink and say ,,Prost!" (Cheers!). Btw, Norm from ,,Cheers" would love Oktoberfest; in fact, I think the character celebrated Oktoberfest every day in Cheers. (Did you know that in DS9, the alien patron always at the bar in Quark's, named Morn, is a based on the character Norm from ,,Cheers"? They just swapped the first and last letters in the name!).


The closest I've come to Oktoberfest is Busch Gardens, Williamsburg, VA. I can't remember the place of the restaruant hall in the German section of the park, but it was full of dancing, oompah music, singing, and good food all in a style and atmosphere of Oktoberfest. I bought my first German stein there. Also, there used to be an elderly man always singing and hosting, but he is proabably deceased now, as I remember seeing him every time we went to Busch Gardens throughout the 70's and 80's. Plus, the park has Clysdesdale horses that you used to be able to pet and feed. Don't know if they still allow that.


Other common Oktoberfest toasts are ,,Ein Prosit" (A Toast) and ,,Eins, zwei, drei, gesuffe!" (1, 2, 3, down the hatch!).