Volksfest & Oktoberfest

Cannstatter Volksfest, Stuttgart

Every person we talked to who has lived in Germany at some point told us that while of course we had to go to Munich for Oktoberfest at least once, they preferred Stuttgart’s version (Cannstatter Volksfest). The general consensus was that Oktoberfest was just too crowded and crazy (especially after dark), and for those of us living in Wiesbaden, Volksfest was a quick 2 hour train ride, instead of the 4 hours it would take to get to Munich’s Oktoberfest.

Since a lot of our September and October weekends were already spoken for, we really only had one day we could make it to Volksfest, which turned into way more of an adventure than it should have been. We decided to take the train down for a day trip — leave around 8:30, arrive right before the fest opened, and get back on the train around 5:30. Unfortunately, I had some trouble getting the train tickets, and we ended up purchasing them the morning of the trip, which made them considerably more expensive than if I had purchased them ahead of time (seriously… over $250 for two tickets.) the good news was that the train ride was comfortable and even though we arrived at the Stuttgart main station about 25 minutes late due to issues with the tracks, we were easily able to reschedule our connecting city train that would bring us within walking distance of the festival.

The real problems began when we tried to enter the festival. When we left the house we didn’t bring that much with us — I had a medium sized sling bag that didn’t have a ton of room while Chris had his small camera bag and was hand carrying his gimbal since he wanted to shoot some video during the festival. However, when we tried to enter, the cops who were manning the entry told us that Chris couldn’t bring his camera. It didn’t make a ton of sense, but one of them (there were at least 10 milling around the gate) said it would be fine if Chris put it away. Unfortunately, once it was all put away and the gimbal crammed into my bag, the cops told us we couldn’t bring the camera in at all, because cameras were forbidden. That made absolutely no sense since every phone is also a camera, but clearly arguing was going to get us nowhere.

When we explained we were from out of town, one of them told us there were lockers at the train station that we could use for our stuff, so back to the local train station we went. Once we located the lockers though, we realized none of them worked. After some discussion, we got back on the city train and went to the much bigger main station, only to be told that those lockers didn’t work either. Sigh.

By then I was super annoyed and it seemed inconceivable that cameras weren’t allowed, so I started digging. The festival website didn’t list cameras in the prohibited items — it just said that bags were discouraged since police would be checking them all. (Meanwhile baby strollers were okay — the logic is problematic.) While I was on the website I also found a phone number for the weekend lost and found — so I called them and talked to someone who explained that professional cameras weren’t allowed, but personal ones were. Armed with that knowledge we went back to the festival.

This time though, we made sure to walk to a different entrance, manned with only two police officers, one of them a woman. When she searched my bag with the gimbal she waved over her partner and we had a discussion in my broken German and her broken English where we established that the camera was fine and as long as the gimbal stayed in my bag, we could enter the festival. Victory!

The festival itself was fun and we ended up checking out three different tents, which had slightly different vibes based on the music in each. The first tent (our favorite) was playing more traditional music, the second had more of an old school rock feel, and the last one was techno-pop. It was Sunday afternoon, so while it was crowded and kind of crazy as all Oktoberfest celebrations are, it wasn’t completely insane. In fact, we were able to find a place to sit in all the tents, even once the crowds started building.

Oktoberfest, Munich

Munich’s Oktoberfest was a whole other level of chaos. Despite cold, rainy weather the lines to get into the festival started around 9 am. We had booked a Get Your Guide tour of the festival that was originally scheduled to start at 10:30, but then they requested that we show up by 0900. We ended up meeting across the street from the festival grounds, where the guides shared some morning beers in bottles as they talked a little bit about the festival and we got to know our group.

When the grounds opened up, we joined the lines to enter the grounds (no drama with bags this time) and then stopped a few times to learn more about the festival. (The tents — which are huge and look permanent are taken down each year. There is a single construction company that exists to put them up and take them down. The biggest tent - Hofbrau - can hold 10,000 people.) I’m pretty sure this would have gone on longer if the weather had been better, but by this point we were all cold and wet and over it, so the guides hustled us to the Paulaner tent where we had a reserved table.

Once we got to the tent the guides found our table and set about making sure we got beer and food. The first hour was fairly calm since the music hadn’t started yet and the crowds were still trickling in. We were able to get beer and food with no problems and could even talk to the people sitting around us. (The couple sitting next to me were from Australia and were on one of the first planes to leave Australia after 911 because he was with the Australian Army and they were moving to Alabama to help the U.S. Army.)

Then the music started and the trickle of people turned into a torrent. Within a couple of hours  the tent was crammed full of (mostly drunk) people crowded onto benches and packed into groups standing all around the edges of the tables and walkways hoping for a chance at a seat. It was insanely loud and out of control, but the crowd was having a good time singing along with the band and dancing with all of the people around them. You couldn’t talk to anyone or even move without disturbing at least two or three people who were packed in around you — really the only option was to drink, sing, and dance and enjoy the energy of the moment. While it was fun, the noise and chaos got to be too much after a couple of hours, so we started making our way out of the tent. By the time we left the crowd was also beginning to move from happy and tipsy to drunk, so I’m glad we left when we did.

Overall, we liked both festivals and I can see why everyone recommends Stuttgart over Munich for the celebration. That being said, we might try to do both again next year, but if we go back to Munich we will go mid-week in the middle of the festival when it will hopefully be a little less crowded rather than the final Saturday.