Oktoberfest

[Payson]

Heading to Helen Ga. next weekend for their unusually large Oktoberfest celebration. It lasts approximately 6 weeks and is one, if not the largest in the country. Why in Gods name a small north Georgia mtn. town embraced this festival is beyond me but more power to em. :D

[newportstorm]

Check this link for some info on the town, its history and their Oktoberfest. Some interesting stuff on how Helen came to be (and look):

http://www.helenga.org/visitorinformation/oktoberfest.asp

Cheers!

[Payson]

It is by far one of the strangest towns I've ever visited. Fortunately my parents have a cabin in the neighboring county so the lodging expense will be null. More $ for beer! They do have an excellent beer selection.

[steveh]

I was down there last December visiting a friend. The Habersham winery just south out of town is terrific too - great sampling and knowledgeable folks.

Do me a favor and stop to feed the bears for me, they must be getting hungry by now! ;)

S.

Don't worry - ask anyone in town about the bears when you get there!

[barley ben]

Speaking of Oktoberfest, I was just looking at the offical Oktoberfest page and it said that last year 5.9 million people attended and drank 5.7 million liters of beer. Thats a lot of beer but not for the amount of people. Am I misreading something because thats only an average of .96 liters per person. Granted I have never beer there but know people that have. They drank many beers while they were there. Am I missing something?

[Payson]

That does seem strange. I plan on consuming multiple liters! Maybe each adult brought 6 kids.....

[barley ben]

I know there is stuff for the whole family to do, I guess alot of people don't go there to drink large quanities. I'll get there someday and try to bump that average up a bit.

[steveh]

Ben has the right idea. The Oktoberfest (in Munich) is like the biggest carnival or county fair you've ever been to - with the added luxury of 14 beer tents.

I don't know the exact stats, but I'd guess that (just) less than half of the people are there for the beer. The rest are taking in the rides, food, games, and other attractions.

All totaled the tents have seating capacity for about 90,000 - anyone know how to figure those logistics? From 11:00 am to around 4:00 during week days is about the best time to find a seat in a tent. After 4:00, and most of the weekends, you can be met by a locked door due to the tent being at capacity! Rather distressing if you're parched.

S.

[barley ben]

A guy I know that goes alot said one other problem is that alot of big business guys reserve alot of the seating for their group which really doesn't help to get people a chance to enjoy the tents.

[steveh]

It's not just big businesses reserving tables, it almost looks like every business in Munich will reserve a table at least once throughout the fest.

A little small talk and schmoozing netted my friend and me some useful info about those reservations. First of all, the table is free reign up until the time of the reservation, second - if no one from the party shows within 1/2 an hour of the reser time - open table!

My friend and I spent an evening at a table in the Hacker-Pschorr tent at a reserved table with 6 of our new, closest friends from Munich! ;)

S.