Man’s Fascination with Beer

The mere mention of the word Oktoberfest will turn most men and quite a few women to quivering beings. It is a word that is synonymous with consumption of large quantities of beer in an outrageous atmosphere of Bavarian joviality. When I mention Oktoberfest to people, their reactions fascinate me. It fills many people with warm thoughts, longing feelings and fear all in the one mind shot. The longing to return for those that may have been there in their youth and the longing to get there for those that were not there in their youth. While others that were there in their youth or were never there are filled with fear at the thoughts of being there. Whatever reaction category you fall into, it just confirms that you have a fascination with beer. Love or hate it. The Oktoberfest has been the theme of thousands of copycat festivals all over the world over the past 200 years.

But what has made a local festival in Munich become one the largest in the world welcoming in the region of 6 million visitors every year? After all, it started out as just a festival to honour the marriage of a Bavarian Prince to a Princess, at which all the local Munich brewers were to provide the beer, which was pretty much part of the staple diet in the region. But the festival was not just about beer. It was a Bavarian celebration with all that entailed. Bavarian food, beer, music and traditional musical entertainment. These four pillars of human joviality are still the basis of the modern Oktoberfest. Indeed little has changed over the past 200 years. The modern Oktoberfest is still a huge festival that celebrates Bavarian culture and Beer is a significant part of this. And non – beer drinkers are not excluded. The site of the Oktoberfest (at 42 hectares) is home to one of the largest travelling funfairs in Europe, with roller coasters, dodgems, gigantic merry go rounds, ghost trains and all sorts of “fire you up in the air and scare the bejaysus out of you” rides in abundance. But the highlight is the 20 plus beer tents. They come in many shapes and sizes. They are decorated beautifully and take up to 3 months to construct. With capacities of up to 10,000 of which up to 8,000 are seated, these are the heart of the festival. Our pictures to the left have been taken in 1949, 1952, 1972 and 2005. It is these “Beer Drinking Theme Parks” that are the heart and soul of the festival. It is the outrageous conviviality, the dancing on seats, the singing, the eating, the laughter, the joyful mixing with absolute strangers while drinking the specially brewed local “Oktoberfestbier” from the famous local breweries such as Hofbrau, that have made the Oktoberfest legendary.

Fascinated? I am. I love to drink a beer.

Prost!

User Comments