At the lavish wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Theresa in Munich in 1810, guests were entertained with horse-racing, shooting matches and a funfair, but no beer was served. Yet somehow the celebration evolved into Oktoberfest, Munich's monolithic beer festival, now held in September in favour of warmer weather. It's the largest public festival in the world and sees seven million guests come from all over the globe to its 31-hectare site. Nottingham's beer festival is much more modest in comparison. For one weekend in October, it commandeers Victoria Leisure Centre in Sneinton and every day features live music and of course, lots of beer. Revellers at Oktoberfest must arrive early in the morning to get one of the 100,000 seats in a so-called 'beer tent' (they're more like log cabins).
 | | One of the beer tents |
The fourteen tents each have their own distinctive décor and atmosphere, from the international party in the Hofbräu to the more traditional Bräurosl-Festhalle, which has actual 'yodellers'. On the opening day, my friends and I got there before nine and watched as our tent (capacity 9,800) filled with Germans, Brits, French, Aussies and Kiwis, all apparently ready for a big Bavarian beer. At noon, a procession of beer-maids and marching musicians paraded into the tent to much cheering and applause. Soon the mayor of Munich had tapped the first barrel and its beer flowed, barely seeing light before drinkers knocked it back. The party atmosphere in the giant tent continued through the afternoon and into the night.
 | | Adam enjoys a pint (or two) |
Every fifteen minutes, the resident oom-pah band played some music that usually degenerated into a drinking song with a repeated refrain of "Prost! Prost!" ("Cheers!"). People chatted away to other drinkers on the same long wooden benches as if they'd known them for years. Some munched on giant, traditional pretzels or weisswurst (Bavarian white sausage), while others pranced around in lederhosen (no, really). After a full-day shift in the beer tent, my friends and I went outside to the crisp September air and strolled around the accompanying fair, gawping at the size and number of the other beer tents and inevitably ending up looping around on a lengthy rollercoaster ride.
 | | Oktoberfest (more than just beer) |
I'd had a tiring and long but fantastic day. Now I realise I have to go to Nottingham's brother beer bash. It'll prove difficult to beat Munich's Oktoberfest: the Germans not only know how to brew decent beer, it seems they also know the right mix of historic tradition and modern party technique. And of course, that was only day one of a three-week festival. The Nottingham Beer Festival 2005 will be held at The Victoria Leisure Centre, Sneinton Market, Nottingham. It runs from Thursday, 20th to Sunday, 23rd October 2005. Admission ranges from free to £4. For more details... | 
