Dress the part
It is not required to get dressed up in traditional clothing, but trust me, you should! It adds a spirit to the festival and most everyone, especially locals, are dressed in lederhosen (for men) and dirndls (for women). You do see some people in jeans, but they are usually tourists.
There are many stores in downtown Munich and Marienplatz where you can purchase or rent authentic clothing. Ladies, let me tell you the outfits are the best part! There are so many options and accessories to choose from, like different colored ribbons and styled chains to lace up the dirndl, flower hair accessories and headbands, and so many different kinds of fabric patterns for the dirndl.
The best thing to do is find someone who works at the store and have her help you. They know what to do and can get you fitted properly, and there are two important things to know about the dirndls – the length and the bow.
Traditional dirndls are mid-length and fall right above your knee. They are not the short skirts that you see in Halloween costumes. You will also have an apron that ties around your waist. The bow should be neat and not too large, and where you tie it has different meanings for your relationship status – on your left side if you are single, on your right if you are married, or in the middle if you are a widow. Waitresses will usually wear their bow in the middle to be neutral.
Explore different tents
I had a few friends who had been before, and they kept talking about the beer tents. I was envisioning sort of a large event tent like they have at festivals, but these beer tents are no tents at all. They are massively large buildings that hold over 10,000 people each!
Essentially, each tent is a different brewery, so to get the whole experience so be sure to go to different tents on different days. Each brewery has its own style of German lager and only serves their seasonal Oktoberfest brew. There may be one or two styles to choose from, but you can just ask for a beer.
The tents are open at 10 a.m. and close promptly at 11:30 p.m. (last call is at 10:30 p.m.). They all have different vibes throughout the day, getting wilder as the day progresses.
Enjoy a Bavarian beer
In order to get beer and drinks, you have to be seated at a table. There’s not a bar to walk up to, and you can’t just stand around and hang out like in typical bar scene.
In the morning since the tents are just opening up, you can nearly always find a spot. Some tables are reservation-only and some are for general entry, so you have to look out for signs on the tables before sitting down (but it’s pretty obvious to tell). Once you’re at a table, waiters come around to serve you.
Later in the day, it becomes busier with locals starting to arrive around 2-3 p.m. towards the end of the work day. Again, you have to have a spot at a table to get served, so afternoons and evenings can be harder to find a spot.
People like to sit on the ends of the tables close to the aisle, so look towards the middle of the tables. You may have to schmooze your way to get a seat.
There can be different “rules” during the day versus the afternoon. Some tents allow you to stand on the tables during the day, others do not. Some allow you to make a spectacle of chugging your beer, others will kick you out. If you choose to (and are allowed to) stand on the table and chug your beer, you better get the job done! It’s all fun and games at the beginning since the whole tent will be cheering you on, but if you do not finish the entire liter of beer, the crowd will boo and throw pieces of pretzel at you! One Bavarian told me that he practices chugging milk. Why? He says, you can chug a liter of anything if you can chug a liter of milk.
Things aren’t as expensive as I thought they’d be. Beers are served in a maß (mass) glass mug available and about 12€ ($13) for a liter of beer. I’m not a big beer drinker myself, so I usually order a radler or rußn (ru-ssen) – a shandy, beer with lemonade or Sprite.
Sing along
There are also so many fun songs to sing! And you’d be surprised by the American ones that make the list. “Take Me Home Country Roads” is a hit at Oktoberfest, and everyone knows the words— except me. I don’t think I have sung that song since Flag Day in elementary school! “Ein Prosit” is the number one song at Oktoberfest, where conversations will stop to sing along. The lyrics in English are something like: I salute our friendship and good times. During the song, you sway and swing your beer left and right with the entire tent. When the song is over, there is a countdown for everyone to cheer and have a sip of beer!
Optional: go beyond Munich
My friend Nicole, who I went with, also really wanted to go and see Neuschwanstein Castle, so we headed out of Munich for the day. There are options to take a tour group to the Castle if you prefer, but we took a scenic 2-hour train ride. From there, it was a 5-10 minute bus or cab ride to the base of the Castle. I usually don’t like to repeat places, but this is one place I did not mind revisiting.
