Always wanted to go, but do not know when/where in Germany it is. Any help someone could give would be of help (sites, information, whatever - I know nothing).

hey, jay... <BR> <BR>ever consider doing a text search for OKTOBERFEST?

It is always the last two weeks in September, ending on the first Sunday of October, hence it will start this year on Sept 16th. I attended it on 5 different years and always had a ball but that was a long time ago. Munchen is very crowded during that time and you may have difficulty in finding a place to stay. Practice learning German drinking songs and it will enhance your visit. If you are going with someone be sure that you get to the tents VERY early or you will not find a place to sit. <BR>

Jay, <BR> <BR>Was there for opening day last year. Do not wish to rain on your parade, but you really do need to get tickets to a tent. <BR> <BR>If not, you will have a very difficult time getting a table inside any of the tents. Most all of the tables are reserved well in advance. Without a table, and the tents seat about 4 to 5,000 people, you may get lucky and sit outside at a table, but those go very fast as well. No seat, very difficult to get beer. <BR> <BR>We watched the opening parade, walked behind the parade into the fairgrounds and could not get a seat to get a beer. <BR>The parade is awesome. Each of the major Munchen breweries have their team of horses pulling the beer wagon. The folks on the wagons have large beer mugs and you can climb over the rope, follow the wagon and get an opportunity to drink a little of the beer. When I did it, the young lady reminded me that I had to drink it all, a full liter. When I said no way, she laughed and said you Americans need to learn to drink better. <BR> <BR>I work for Siemens, one of the main sponsors, but didn't think ahead to ask for tickets. <BR> <BR>You may be able to get a seat, however if you skip the parade and get over to the fairgrounds very early. <BR> <BR>It's a real experience even if you can't get the beer. I'm amazed at the number of people drinking beer and riding ferris wheels etc and not getting sick! <BR> <BR>We ended up taking a taxi to the Seehaus in the Englisher Gartens and drank beer there. <BR> <BR>Good luck!

Tom's not exactly right--you don't have to get tickets to an Oktoberfest tent to get a seat, and in fact, as far as I know, you can only *get* advance tickets for groups of 10-12 or more. I'm not at all sure what Tom means about most of the tables being reserved in advance; that certainly wasn't our experience, nor is it what I've been told by the folks on the Eurotrip discussion boards (they have a special section for Oktoberfest, which you should check out, Jay), including a guy who goes back every year. (This is his 15th 'fest, I think.) <BR> <BR>Tents will be utterly jammed to bursting on weekend nights, the more so as the 'fest goes on. But on non-weekend nights, and earlier in the 'fest, you should be able to get a seat without too much trouble (especially if you get there earlier in the day and stake out a place). We had no difficulties on the first Sunday and Monday nights of last year's 'fest; in fact, we wandered fairly freely from tent to tent, finding people very generous about making room for us. <BR> <BR>While you may not have that much trouble getting into a tent, depending on when you go, you *will* have trouble getting a place to sleep. If you haven't booked a hotel in Munich for this year's Oktoberfest already, you can pretty much forget about staying anywhere within the city limits. Hotels fill up far in advance; we booked our hotel last year in early May and still had a lot of trouble finding a place. <BR> <BR>My recommendation: read up on the Oktoberfest and start making plans now for next year.

Jay, <BR>Four of us went to Oktoberfest ten years ago, wife and another couple. Walked into the Hacker-Pschorr tent about 4PM. Easily close to 5,000 people there. Found a table directly alongside the bandstand. Just as my wife, who is Hispanic, sat down the oompah band started playing "Lady of Spain". Evening went downhill fast from there. Ended up dancing on table tops with 40 Avon ladies on tour courtesy of a sales award program. Raided the ATM twice before the evening was over. Dined on roast chicken and beer. Have photos of total strangers with arms interlinked with ours swilling Hacker-Pschorr out of steins. Noticed in prowling about periodically that only the Lowenbrau tent was swarming with American tourists.

Wes, your experience sounds very similar to mine! (Except I'm not married to a Spanish woman, didn't meet up with any Avon ladies, and have no pictures because I *knew* I'd drop my camera in a puddle of beer.) As I remarked to my buddy on our way back to the hotel after having Australians, Germans, Dutch, and Brazilians constantly offering to buy beer and sausages for us, "That was the nicest bunch of drunks I've ever met!" <BR> <BR>Aw. Now I'm getting oddly nostalgic and wishing I were going back this year. I guess instead I'll just go to the Brickskeller, hoist a Paulaner Oktoberfest, and try to convince people to sing the "Alice, Alice, who the ^!#%~! is Alice?" song with me.

Just wanted to say thank you for all the replies. I appreciate the time! <BR>Jay