10 Facts To Impress Your Friends With At Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest starts in Dubai next Friday and we’re so excited!

The main focus of this festival is drinking beers and having a good time… what’s not to love?

We doubt you’re going to be sitting on your phone reading some facts about it, however if you really are that boring here are some tidbits of info you might be able to impress your friends with.

Between 5 and 7 million visitors visit Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany each year.

And only 20% of these come from outside of Germany. That’s a lot of drunk Germans!

Beer is served in a maß

Pronounced mass – which is short for MASS-ive! Well it’s not actually but we can’t think of any other way to describe the litre size glass of beer – the standard serving measure.

A phrase or two to keep you going…

‘Proust’ – means cheers in German. Okay that’s it. We’re not going to confuse you with lots of phrases you definitely won’t remember and ‘cheers’ is all you really need.

1.8 MILLION GALLONS of beer are served each year.

Really think about that. (If your work it out it’s nearly seven million servings over 15 days – fairly impressive!)

There are spare pants available should you need them

After drinking all that beer there may be consequences. So when the red cross set up shop at the festival they made sure to include some spare pants in case anyone was caught short. Sound!

It starts in September

Oktoberfest in Munich starts in mid-September, it’s confusing. Here in Dubai however Oktoberfest starts on Friday in sports city and runs in different venues across the city throughout the month.

You won’t find your average menu

Don’t go expecting burgers and chips. The Germans are fiercely proud of their traditional cooking and the proof is at the festival. Look forward to some wurst, (sausages) sauerkraut, (pickled cabbage) or schnitzel (flat breaded meat). For more info on what tasty offerings will be available see here.

It’s not just about the beer

Music is a huge part of the festival, brass bands play in tents everyday. Most tunes have festival-goes off their seats singing along. It can be pretty fun. Make sure you learn a song or two before you go, ‘Ein Prosit der Gemütlichkeit’ below is one of our favourites.

The Lost and found office has seen some crazy things

False teeth, tomb stones, thousands of passports, you name it have gone through the lost and found office there. Not to mention they have a Lost and Found children’s office on the premise too. A lost and found office just for kiddies? This is worrying.

Paris Hilton is banned

Yes, really she is. She turned up unannounced to promote a wine brand and locals immediately turned sour, apparently offended by how she was dressed, she has been banned ever since. Sorry Paris!