The Intercultural Communication Course Blog (Prof. Christian Tarchi)
By Morgan Comunale, Anna Capetola, Shannon Spitzfaden (Qunnipiac Univeristy)
Oktoberfest is the world’s largest folk festival, hosting more than six million people from all over the world. It is held in Munich, Germany and has been around for 205 years.
Here are a few tips to conquer the best weekend of your life.
- Buy a dirndl or lederhosen
You may not think it’s worth spending the money, but the majority of people there will be wearing one and you will stand out. If you walk around Munich you will find little boutiques that sell them for $30. It’s Oktoberfest people get in the spirit of things! - Get to the tents early
You are going to want to have a table with all of your friends and in order to get one your going to have to wake up early and wait in line for several hours. It sounds miserable and it sort of is but once you get inside you will realize it was worth it. - Tip your waitress
Throw a few Euros at your waitress before hand. This will make her come back quicker instead of waiting hours in between drinks! Plus she carries up to about 10 liters of beer at a time! I would like to see you try and do that! - It’s a marathon not a sprint
You must pace yourself while you are there. You start drinking at 10 am and you probably wont leave until about 3pm. That’s 5 hours of non-stop drinking. One liter of beer is equivalent to 3 cans of beer! The amount of beer that is served in the 3 weeks of the festival can fill up to 3 Olympic sized swimming pools! - Buy a pretzel
There is nothing better than the HUGE pretzels there. If you don’t buy a pretzel did you even go to Oktoberfest? - Go explore the actual festival
There is a whole new world outside of the tents waiting to be explored! Definitely venture outside to eat the delicious food and ride the exciting rollercoasters. - Sleeping in tents…
If you are sleeping in a tent make sure to bring clothing that will keep you warm. The temperature drops several degrees at night so if you want to keep your toes dress in extra layers! - Always have an id on you
Depending on your waitress they may check ids and if you don’t have one on you will be kicked out so all that waiting is for nothing! - Hold your bladder
The bathroom lines are outrageously long and people will start to get aggressive so for your safety and time only go when you need to. - Make new friends!
People all over the world come to enjoy this festival. The atmosphere in the tents is pure happiness so no doubt you’ll make new friends in no time!