If you’re looking for an excuse to OD on hot wurst and cold beer, head for an Oktoberfest. Yes, the “real deal” is in Munich, but dozens of U.S.
and Canadian cities make a big deal out of Oktoberfest – some extended, some just a day or two, with varying dates. Here's an update of the Oktoberfest season for 2024. It’s already too late to beat the crowd for hotel accommodations and event tickets, but if you have a fall hankering for a pint or two of cold beer and a hot wurst, you can still make it.
The epicenter of Oktoberfest is, of course, Munich, where this year's festivities run Sept. 21 through Oct. 6.
The details are posted on the official portal ( https://www.oktoberfest.de/en ).
There are links to purchase tickets to the various tents and events. This year a liter of beer will cost between €13.60 and €15.
50 ($15 to $17). Stiff, but not out of line with U.S.
microbrew prices. I see airfares from the U.S.
to Munich available at about the same level as earlier September, but hotel prices are up sharply. If you're looking for a deal, your best bet now is to wait and see if demand doesn't meet expectations and hotels cut prices. Keep in mind also that, unless you really want to be there for the hoopla, Munich will not run out of beer earlier or later.
Of course, you don't have to schlep thousands of miles for a cold beer and a hot wurst. You can also find Oktoberfest celebrations of varying authenticity much closer to home. If you want as big a deal as you can find, three different centers in North America claim to be the "biggest outside of Munich:" You can find either a city-wide celebration or an individual venue Oktober celebration in lots of U.
S. cities. I'm a bit surprised at how modest beer-centric Milwaukee's is ( milwaukeeoktoberfest.
com ) Oct. 4 to 6, largely supplied by one restaurant. An online posting ( https://www.
funtober.com/oktoberfest/u s/) lists at least one "German festival" in all 50 states – even Alaska, Hawaii, and Mississippi. Check funtober for locations and dates of an Oktoberfest near you or where you're going; you will find something of interest no more than a day trip from most of the U.
S., and certainly a place for a happy weekend. The primary authenticity deficiency of Oktoberfest in the US.
is that what they call "Wienerschnitzel" is most likely to be either pork or chicken rather than the authentic veal, overpounded and overbreaded. But pork-based "Schweinschnitzel" is a perfectly good dish, and getting decent veal for true Wienerschnitzel is almost impossible in most of the U.S.
You can't discuss Oktoberfest without starting at the real deal in Munich. But if you don't mind missing some of the hokey entertainment, huge crowds, and high prices, Munich offers much of the Oktoberfest features all year, with great wurst, sauerbraten, schnitzel, and oom-pah-pah music. And you never need to worry that Munich will run out of beer.
But you can also enjoy great beer, wurst, and gemutlichkeit at a much lower cost in New Braunfels, Cincinnati, Kitchener, or a German festival near you. (Send e-mail to Ed Perkins at [email protected] .
Also, check out Ed’s new rail travel website at www.rail-guru.com .
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