The Hippodrom Tent
By Rocky | September 24, 2007
The Hippodrom was first seen at Oktoberfest in 1902 and since then has become one of the most popular tents. This tent was the first to offer amusement and it was in the form of horse rides. There were 25 horses which carried visitors around a track. Today the real horses have dissapeared but their legacy remains with beautifuly decorated horse models hanging from the ceiling of this huge tent. The tent dosent only offer great beer and fine German food it has a champange bar. This bar is very popular with the ‘Beautiful People’ set of Germany and quiet often famous film and television stars are seen enjoying themselves at the bar.
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Armbrustschutzen
By Rocky | September 23, 2007
Armbrustschutzenzelt has been a major tent at Munich’s Oktoberfest since 1895. The name in English translates to ”Crossbow Shooters Tent”, and thats exactly what goes on in this tent yes thousands of beer drinkers and cross bows. It sounds like a dangerous mix but no its perfectly safe, the crossbows fire foam rubber arrows and they are in a special area away from the crowd. The Armbrustschutzen is also famous for its tasty roast pig knuckles and of course its golden fresh Paulaner beer. The tent houses 5800 and another 1800 can fit in the outside beer garden. Work begins in the middle of July to build this massive tent and get it ready for the festival.
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Oktoberfest starts today in Munich!
By Rocky | September 22, 2007
Munich’s Oktoberfest starts today with the tapping of the barrel by the Lord Mayor and the parade to the Oktoberfest Grounds. This year over 6000000 (6 million) people will rock up at the festival for a beer, giant pretzel, sausage or ginger bread. The festival is not only about eating and drinking it is a full on fair with huge carnival rides and a real party atmosphere. Check out our special YouTube video to see what some of the sights of last years Oktoberfest.
Official Site: http://www.oktoberfest.de/en/
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Paris Hilton banned from Oktoberfest
By Rocky | September 22, 2007
Good to see the Germans have got good taste. Last year the controversial celebrity gatecrashed the Munich festival in a very tacky gold traditional Bavarian dress to promote some sort of canned wine. Organisers and the public were not impressed and have banned celebrity promotions from this years festival in the wake of her stunt. Some people thought it was a shame they didn’t drown her in weissbier, but why waste perfectly good beer.
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Munich in readiness for Oktoberfest 2007
By Rocky | September 22, 2007
The countdown is on to the climax of months of planning and preperation for the 2007 Oktoberfest in Munich Germany. It’s less than three hours till the Lord Mayor of Munich taps the first keg and declares “O’zapft is!” (Bavarian: “It’s tapped!”). the world’s biggest folk festival open for another year. Over the next 16 days over 6 million people will drink a third of Munich’s yearly beer intake in the grounds of the Theresenwiese.
Only local Munich breweries serve beer at the festival and many serve a special Oktoberfest brew for the occasion, this beer is slightly darker and a bit stronger than their normal brews and is in a one-liter glass tankard called a Maß.
There are 14 large tents including The Hippodrom, Armbrustschützenzelt, Hofbräu Festzelt, Hacker-Festzelt, Schottenhamel, Winzerer Fähndl, Schützen-Festzelt, Käfers Wiesn Schänke, Weinzelt, Löwenbräu-Festhalle, Bräurosl, Augustiner-Festhalle, Ochsenbraterei and Fischer Vroni plus many smaller tents. Some of these larger tents are able to seat 4 - 5000 people in one sitting.
Over the festival Hoppsy will have several reports live from the 2007 Oktoberfest.
Official Site: http://www.oktoberfest.de/en/02/
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Oktoberfest starts next week!
By Rocky | September 15, 2007
Next Wednesday the barrel gets tapped and the festivities begin for the 174th Oktoberfest in Munich Theresienwiese festival grounds. This years fest will see over 6 million people visit the 42 hectare park over its 12 days. That’s half a million people a day!. In that time 6 million litres of beer, (30% of Munich’s annual consumption) quarter of a million sausages, 100 oxen, and half a million roast chickens will be served by over 1600 waitresses. The site has 1800 toilets and seating for over 100,000 people. 12000 people are employed during the festival including cleaners, ride operators, food vendors, security and tent staff. Last year over 200,000 mugs were retrieved by security guards from would be thieves, this year there will be a 50 Euro fine to crack down on people pinching the mugs. Plenty are on sale for souvenirs and all at pretty reasonable prices.
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Oktoberfest fun at the Hippodrom
By Rocky | September 8, 2007
The Oktoberfest opens its gates on the 22nd - only 2 weeks away. So we continue or feature stories, today we talk about hte Hippodrom. The Hippodrom is one of the more elaborate of the huge Oktoberfest tents which are erected each year for the annual OkKtoberfest. The hippodrom dates back to 1902 and has been at Oktoberfest ever since serving the fineset Bavarian, veal sausages, pretzels and famous Fraziskaner Wheat Beer. 4200 people are seated each of the 4 daily sittings, the Bavarian Brunch, Lunchtime and the Happy Hippo Hour the evening sitting which books out months before the event. This year’s Oktoberfest is the 174th and will see over 6 million visitors through the gates during its 2 weeks of celebration from the 22nd of September.
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A beer and sausage at work
By Rocky | August 26, 2007
A few weeks ago we ran a story about beer in vending machines in Japan, well heres another great idea beer at work. The German Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg has beer available in their canteens throughout the factory. Workers love nothing more than relaxing at lunchtime with a nice cold beer and a currywurst sausage. Beer is drunk responsibly and is a valued part of the German culture and must be one of the reasons Volkswagen make some of the worlds best quality and exciting vehicles. The currywurst is one of Germany’s best and at the Wolfsberg plant where they manufacture the Golf over 1.5 million of these delicious sausages are made each year. The good news is any visitors to the theme park / factory can stop in for a beer and currywurst it is well worth the short diversion between Berlin and Amsterdam.
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One month to Oktoberfest!
By Rocky | August 22, 2007
If you have been a regular reader of Hoppsy you will have noticed we are getting very excited about Oktoberfest the world’s biggest beer party and the tapping of the first barrel is only one month away. The Oktoberfest is not only about beer drinking it is infact a family event with heaps to do for people of all ages. There are some of the worlds most amazing carnival rides, food, arcade sideshows even a flea circus. One of Europe’s biggest ferris wheels is on hand for spectacular views and of course the huge beer tents. The event is one big happy festival with many people donning their traditional Bavarian dress for the occasion. Whether you drink beer or are young or old you will certainly enjoy your time at Munich’s favorite festival.
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Make mine a Becks
By Rocky | August 19, 2007
Becks is one of the more popular of the German Beers and is made under license in several countries around the world including Australia, Namibia, Serbia, China, Turkey and Romania. The beer is a nice crisp pilsner and has been brewed since 1873. The actual flavor we have today dates back to 1842 when the German purity laws introduced new brewing processes. Beck’s originated in Bremen which is in the North West regions of Germany on the river Weser and is still brewed there today. The easy transportation from the river made this beer very easy to ship to other regions. The green bottle has a distinctive label with shield and red key, this key is actually a mirror image of the town’s coat of arms.
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