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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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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Oktoberfest only 50 days away
By Rocky | August 4, 2007
All is nearly in readiness for the 174th Oktoberfest, and it is only 50 days away. Over the next 50 days Hoppsy will have plenty of tips for any of our readers who are lucky enough to be joining estimated 6 million people enjoying the celebrations in Munich. Bookings for the huge tents are filling fast so there’s no time to waste- you need to get your bookings underway as if you haven’t got a seat it isn’t too easy to find a beer. Entry to the festival and all the tents are free you just need to buy your food and drink along the way.
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