Dhruv Rathee Visits Munich's Famous Oktoberfest | Take a Tour of the World’s Largest Volksfest

This is Munich and we are in the world's largest folk festival. More than 6 million people from around the world come here. This is easily the most popular celebration in Germany, the Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest is probably the festival that many people think of when they think of Germany. To locals it is also known as Wiesn. As the name suggests this annual beer festival is celebrated in autumn. But despite its name the majority of the festival does not actually take place in October. It typically begins on the third Saturday in September and ends on the first Sunday of October depending on the year. In the last two years Oktoberfest was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This year it's back and without any Covid restrictions. Fun fact, the reason Oktoberfest starts in September and not in October is because of weather. They moved it earlier in September so they can have good weather. But looking around here it feels like next time this will start in August itself. Though the fairgrounds open by 9 a.m on opening day the festival doesn't officially start until noon. There's a big crowd of people over there so it seems like that's where the parade is happening. Before noon at 10 45 a.m however the grand parade of the Oktoberfest landlords and breweries takes place. You can already see the crowds standing in the streets from far away and we came just in time. Munich residents and tourists alike did not want to miss this opportunity to follow the colorful train of magnificent carriages and musicians in traditional dresses. They're bringing the beer. Not just the landlords even the beer barrels supplied by the six Munich breweries are on their way to the tents pulled by horses. Originally Oktoberfest didn't start off as a folk festival but was first celebrated in 1810 to honor the marriage of Prince Ludwig, the crown prince of Bavaria and Princess Therese. The citizens of Munich were invited to celebrate and participate in the royal festivities in front of the city gates. They celebrated with plenty of food, drinks, music and other spectacles. Since then Oktoberfest has become an annual tradition. While Munich is home to the original Oktoberfest other German cities quickly adopted the festival. More surprisingly around 29 countries besides Germany have their own Oktoberfest celebrations today. After seeing the parade we just walked to Theresienwiese. Getting here is very easy also for public transport and taxi. The fairgrounds open at 10 a.m on weekdays and 9 a.m on weekends. The crowd is a bit crazy here. One of the best things about Oktoberfest is that you don't actually need tickets to enter the grounds or any of the tents. If you want to reserve a table at a beer tent however keep in mind they need to be booked months in advance. We advise getting there as early as possible especially on the weekends to avoid suffocating crowds, long queues to the rides and most importantly to find a place at the beer tents. Without a reservation there is no guarantee they will let you inside if the tents are too crowded. Oh wow looks crazy so well done. I'm wearing the traditional dress but unfortunately it's very cold so I have to wear the jacket on top and it's raining also. There is no mandatory dress code for Oktoberfest however locals like wearing traditional Bavarian tracts to the festival. Tracts refers to the traditional dress of the region. Men wear lederhosen and a Bavarian tract and shirt with checkered patterns. Women on the other hand wear a diende, a traditional dress with a white blouse and an Fun fact if the bow on the apron is tied to the left it traditionally signifies that the woman is single. If it's on the right she is taken. Though it's a traditional dress worn in southern Germany tourists are welcome to wear it. Just keep in mind that these traditional dresses are a bit pricey so if you're going to only wear them once it might not be worth it for you to buy them. I've never worn anything like this before because this lederhosen is second hand. I got it second hand and you can see that I'm wearing a white shirt instead of a checkered shirt also. At noon on the very first day of Oktoberfest the mayor of Munich carries out a 70 year old tradition in the Schottenhamel tent. He taps the very first keg of beer and exclaims meaning it's tapped and then fills the first glass of beer. Once the keg is tapped 12 gunshots are fired officially commencing Oktoberfest. It was raining and we didn't make it to Schottenhamel tent in time but the gunshots can be heard in the other tents as well signaling us as well that Oktoberfest has begun and only now beer can be served to the public. And Korsett, a popular drinking song is played frequently at the tents. At the end of the song it is tradition to cheer glasses with everyone at the table and to take a sip of your drink. Beer is one of the most important elements of Oktoberfest. It is after all a beer festival. The beer tents are the highlights of Oktoberfest and this is where all the action happens. From drinking, live music, dancing and singing to being served delicious food. There are around 17 large tents and 21 smaller tents. Each has its own unique design, color scheme, theme and personality. The atmosphere inside each one therefore differs as well and combined all these tents can accommodate around 100,000 guests. The drink inside is one liter and the glass weighs like 1.3 kilos so in total I'm holding 2.3 kgs here but imagine those waiters they hold like 10 different glasses in one go. Alcohol-free beer. We felt really hungry so before drinking a beer we wanted to find some food. Luckily drinks aren't the only thing being served at Oktoberfest. Roaming the 42 hectare fairground, partying and drinking requires energy. At Oktoberfest there is plenty of food to fuel up. From mouth-watering hot meals at the beer tents to snacks and sweets at the smaller stalls at the fairground. There's a lot of food options here and my personal favorite is the Käsespätzle. It's also a vegetarian dish. Käsespätzle is a dish made out of egg pasta or dumplings and cheese. Often compared to mac and cheese. If you're a vegetarian just double check and mention not to add any bacon bits to the dish. They are really very eco-friendly here because even this plate is edible. Sausages are the last thing you'll expect to be vegetarian but they are vegan here. I've never had it ever in my life till now. Let's see how it tastes. Tastes very meaty. Not my kind of taste. Regarding sweet things, Gämtnudel is one of my favorites. It's full of plum inside and there's poppy seeds on top. Really tasty. These potato tornadoes behind me I also really like but they're a bit too heavy and I think it's enough for the lunch today. This day would be incomplete without taking a look at the rides and the attractions. Behind me is the world's largest transportable roller coaster. It's called the Olympia Looping and there's five different loops in there. In general also there's 80 different rides here at the Oktoberfest so there's a lot to do for adults and kids. Another favorite is the Ferris Wheel which is a landmark of Oktoberfest that has been around since 1979. It takes you up to 50 meters above the ground from where you can get a full view of the fairground. One travel tip here, if you're visiting with children you can avail discounts on food, rides and performances every Tuesday until 7 pm as these are the family days of Oktoberfest. Make sure you also carry cash as it's unlikely that stalls or tents will accept credit or debit cards. In addition to rides there are fun games and attractions as well. Some involve shooting, others involve hitting a wooden hammer on a disc forcing a small car to go up and ring a bell. This one is very unique you won't find this anywhere else. It's called the Teufelsrad or the devil's wheel. In this game a group of people enter a spinning wheel at the center and try to hold on for dear life to stay inside the wheel as it rapidly spins around. The last person to remain on the wheel wins and this turntable has been at Oktoberfest since 1910. Oktoberfest goes on till the 3rd October this year so if you're around do try visiting. Also do subscribe to the DW Travel channel for more such videos. See you next time.