Oktoberfest: just a brew-tiful illusion?

There’s nothing quite as jarring as stepping into your local only to get jeered at by a bunch of 19^th century lumberjacks. Except, maybe the worse realisation that it’s a rugby team in disguise.

Oktoberfest has been celebrated in Munich since the 1800s, and expanded internationally in the following years. The excuse to drink litres of beer at a time was adopted unsurprisingly quickly across Europe, as were the traditional peasant dress, blonde plaits, and massive pretzels.

But do any of the salty snacks or fairground rides actually have anything to do with Germany today?

Sure, they still love their beer, but how long has it been since Deutschland swapped out the dirndls for leather harnesses and chromatic rave shades?

In fact, whilst many of us associate Oktoberfest with all of Germany, most of its traditions take inspiration purely from Bavarian culture. Bavaria is now the largest free state in Germany and was once its own colourful kingdom with a rich folk scene. This technically makes Oktoberfest older than Germany itself, starting in 1810 whilst Germany was only unified in 1871.

If you visit Munich’s Oktoberfest now, it stays true to its Bavarian roots with traditional dress and local breweries. However, the festival also now celebrates a unified nation and welcomes guests from across the globe to tear into its cavernous beer tents.

The international spawn of Oktoberfest, however, are perhaps not so authentic. Cities across Europe have adopted the festival, celebrating each year with their own spin; across the UK, Oktoberfest is synonymous with pub crawls and pints in parks, blending Bavarian food and drink with whatever takeaway is round the corner. I can’t promise the beers quite pass the German purity laws…

If those litres of Strongbow sound appealing to you, Newcastle’s own Oktoberfest is taking place on Friday 25th at 6pm, in Times Square at The Life Centre.

To conclude: no, Oktoberfest isn’t that representative of German culture and heritage. But, the sense of national pride it inspires and tourism it brings to the country are surely more than enough to make up for that. A fun European tradition with sausages and day-drinking, get yourself a pint in this week in honour of the Free State of Bavaria.