Oktoberfest!
Oktoberfest!
It's the most wonderful time… of the year…
AHEM… I mean… at least for some people.
Oktoberfest runs usually for around 16 days and is mid-September to around the first of October… and I know what you are thinking. BUT why name it Oktoberfest if its not in October? Well in the U.S. we really do get sadly stuck on the whole naming deal. October… Oktoberfest... soooo Oktoberfest is in October. Incorrect. Sorry to destroy your world.
<sigh>
Regardless.
September 18th to October 3rd were the dates for this year’s festival… but due to COVID still being a terrible thing. It has been cancelled for the second year in a row. Fun fact - the last time it was cancelled was for a couple of years after WWII! The reason why it ends so early in October is because it's a tradition for the festival that it always ends on the first Sunday of October. So there you go.
I happened to have been very fortunate to have gone to Oktoberfest in Munich back in 2016. I know… I bet you didn’t see that coming. Let me just tell you this. It's not just a Beer Festival… it's a FESTIVAL & CARNIVAL. I really couldn’t get over the Carnival aspect. Just look at this!
Pardon the Ghost over there…
It's wild. In all of the best ways. They got that swinging chair ride that lifts you up like three stories and spins you around. Haunted Houses. You name it.
Haunted Houses are supposed to be scary? My awesome friend, Paul, and I really were enjoying ourselves…
There's a lot of different ways to experience Oktoberfest when you’re there. We opted for trying both ways. Morning till… whenever and late afternoon till they close. I would highly recommend this. You get two very different versions of the Festival that you will most certainly enjoy.
Let me get down to the brass tacks about why I truly love Oktoberfest. It only happens once a year and is a worldwide phenomenon. It’s the act of saying ‘Cheers!’… the act of celebration… of thanksgiving… and sharing an experience and knowing everyones having the best time. It just feels good. That's really the best part about drinking…. commiserating about Life and knowing you aren’t alone and that everyone is going through stuff. It's not just you. Drinking does lower inhibitions but that also gets-to/breaks-thru to the one thing everyone wants to hear and the one thing that people resonate with when they hear it. This is regardless of whether they know it or not. Truth. Truth about Life and living it. We are all human beings after all. And Truth binds us. Because Truth is Truth. Blatantly obvious I know... but in this world where there is an attack on Truth? Hearing it is all the more important. Because knowing we have a connection to one another makes living a little less lonely. Human beings are social creatures and we need those connections to live a happy life.
So yeah. While Oktoberfest does have that shadow of excess and over-indulging. I would like to focus on the celebration and the communal aspect of how it brings people together. Because it does. And if connections can be forged while at Oktoberfest? All the better. Because it makes us all the better for it. Building friendships. Making friendships stronger. Life sometimes can be not the best at times but knowing that you have people you can turn to at those times. It makes a world of difference. 2020 certainly proved that, right? So that's why I love Oktoberfest… it's an opportunity to have fun and come together. Plus, there's a great chance of connecting with new friends or maintaining and improving your relationships with the friends you already have.
So I raise this Stein up in the air. And chant in the classic Oktoberfest way: “Zicke Zacke Zicke Zacke Hoi! Hoi! Hoi!!!”
