But Why Does It Start In September

I want you to do me a             weeks. That’s a lot of beer, but   favor. Close your eyes, and     fortunately there are plenty of    think back: back to             people to drink it. Stretching     college, back to Mardi Gras, back     from the last weekend of           to Cancun. Imagine biggest party      September to the first weekend of  you’ve ever been to in your life.     October, Oktoberfest attracts      For some, it’s that                   visitors from every corner of the  once-in-a-lifetime trip to New        globe—and has inspired a plethora  Orleans; for others, it’s the         of tributes in just as many        frat fest at Halloween where          countries. Odds are, if you’re     there are more little party cups      anywhere near some fairgrounds,    than there are human beings.          there’ll be people in Bavarian     Whatever that uber-party is,          dress clinking mugs and singing    picture it in your mind.              polka.                                                                                                      Now multiply it by, oh, at least      But despite the legions of drunk   a million. You                        youths (known as “beer corpses”    might—might—approach the jubilee      by the locals) stumbling through   that is Oktoberfest, the largest      Munich every year, Oktoberfest     public festival in the world.         certainly isn’t just about the     With an average of six million        bier. In fact, overconsumption of  annual visitors and only God          alcohol is looked down upon by     knows how many beers, the yearly      nearly every Oktoberfest veteran   festival in Munich dwarfs every       as a sign of youthful              other celebration on earth—save,      inexperience. Oktoberfest is also  maybe, the millennium                 about the people, the food, and    celebration. And unlike other         the music—all of them coming       parties that stop after, oh, one      together to celebrate a German     or two days, Oktoberfest sees fit     cultural tradition dating back to  to keep on truckin’ for two           1810.                                                                    Munich has called off Oktoberfest  The first Oktoberfest began on        24 times due to famine, disease,   October 12, 1810 as a massive         and two world wars. In 1980, a     horse race, all to celebrate the      lone far-right nutcase struck      marriage of Bavarian Crown Prince     another blow with a pipe bomb      Ludwig and Princess Therese von       that killed thirteen people and    Sachsen-Hildburghausen. The           injured 200 more. Despite it all,  festival grounds were named           however, Germany’s most famous     Theresienwiese in honor of the        party always bounced back, and     princess; even today, locals          today an estimated 15% of its 6.5  refer affectionately to them as       million visitors come from         “Die Weisen.” Unsurprisingly, the     overseas.                          revelry surrounding the races was                                        tremendously popular, and by 1813     Every Oktoberfest begins the same  the festival was declared             way: a crowd of people             mandatory for every year. People      8,000-strong marches through       loved it so much it soon              Munich, dressed in traditional     stretched to two weeks in length;     Bavarian clothes and led by the    as the years went on, organizers      town "kindl"--a sort of 'town      pushed the starting point back        mascot,' usually a small child or  into September to take advantage      young woman, who represents the    of the milder weather. So             Munich coat of arms. After the     now—somewhat                          parade, the city mayor officially  counter-intuitively—a festival        kicks off the festivities by       named for October begins the          tapping a ceremonial keg and       month before!                         declaring (to the joy of the                                             crowd) "it's been tapped!" From    It’s not all fun and games,           there, thirsty festival-goers      though; even good times hit their     (many who arrived at 9 AM for the  bad times. In the past 197 years,     evening event) finally get to      taste the special Oktoberfest         Potato Salad                       beer, a strong, dark brew only        German Soft Pretzels               made during the festival. It's        Ritter's Inn Sauerbraten and       drank by the gallons in streets,      Dumplings                          bars, and especially in the                                              10,000-capacity festival tent!        Or try making your own sauerkraut                                        with help from this video.         Of course, some (most) of us                                             can’t hop a plane to Munich any       For the less culinarily-inclined,  time soon, so how do we celebrate     many towns around the country      on our side of the pond?              throw Oktoberfest bashes—all you   Well-prepared brewmeisters can        need to do is go, pay, and enjoy.  twist open a bottle of homemade       We recommend doing this even if    beer, but the rest of us can find     you do cook for yourself; part of  ways to participate, too.             Oktoberfest’s appeal is the                                              crowd!                             Consider cooking one of these                                            German and Bavarian                   Whatever you end up doing, you’d   cuisine-inspired recipes:             better make sure to do it soon.    Holly's German Spaetzle Dumplings     There’s only 11 days of            Shrimp and Fresh Herb Spaetzle        Oktoberfest left...and the clock   with Creamy Tomato Sauce              is ticking!                        Grilled Bratwurst with German          About the Author: Recipe4Living has tens of thousands of recipes, a growing userbase, and tons of features that would make any foodie drool. There can never be enough cooks in our kitchen, so stop at http://Recipe4Living.com today! Published At: www.Isnare.com