My First Oktoberfest: The Full Recap (15 Years Late, Zero Regrets)

Well folks... after being a Dirndl designer for over 16 years and having been told countless times that I need to go to Munich for Oktoberfest... I have officially been to the Wiesn'.

And I loved it.

I loved the food, the decor, all the things to see and do, so many happy people, and so many very German things that made me laugh. There were so many moments where I thought, “In the US, we could never,” and I just enjoyed the whole vibe. I loved seeing so many dirndls everywhere. Seeing men riding their bikes in lederhosen, vests and the full getup always made me smile. I will 100% be continuing my mission to help people NOT wear those skimpy, stupid costumes that have somehow become an international (not just American) interpretation of a dirndl.

I should note that I got nowhere near the Wiesn on opening Saturday. Sunday was busy enough for me. We also left around 8 or 9pm each night, so we didn't close down any tents, which was perfectly fine by me.

My trip only scratched the surface. There was so much more to see and do, even just at Oktoberfest, so you can bet I'll be going back.

Saturday, September 19

I left Chicago Friday night at 9:40pm and landed in Munich Saturday around noon. We stayed at the Hilton something-or-other the first night and then moved to the Eurostars Book Hotel for the next three nights.

Saturday was our day to explore Munich and do some dirndl shopping. We visited stores like CocoVero, Angermaier and other shops that carried a variety of mid- to high-end brands. We also went into a pop-up store that was basically straight out of Pakistan and China styles. The same ones you'd see for $90-$200 on Amazon or eBay.

I was prepared to buy anything that I thought was really something special, but I actually didn't find anything that I had to have. There were a few blouses I liked, but I also don't really NEED more blouses, lol. I checked out lots of different brands and paid attention to the popular colors and styles, which was honestly really interesting from a design perspective.

Since I've seen the major sights of Munich before, there was no need to stop at the Viktualienmarkt or Marienplatz for more than a photo.

We had dinner at Augustiner Keller. I had the Leberknödelsuppe and a cheese plate, along with an Augustinerbräu.

And that was Saturday.

Sunday, September 20

Sunday morning we moved hotels, went to the grocery store and then headed to Oktoberfest.

Because of the Sunday Parade of Traditional Tracht, our taxi had a very hard time getting to the hotel. Eventually we asked him to drop us at the Hauptbahnhof and we walked from there.

I wore the Brimstone Dirndl with a high-neck flutter-sleeve blouse, ruffle ankle socks and my black booties. We saw a bit of the traditional costume parade on our way in and out of the hotel. On the way in, I caught a glimpse of the Donauschwaben group and I was SO excited. I was hoping I would run into them again along the parade route, but I didn't. Next time I go to Oktoberfest, I will definitely be making it a point to watch the full Trachten parade on Sunday.

It was fairly easy to get to the Wiesn because once you get close enough, there are literally signs on the ground telling you which way to go. They try to make it less of a clusterfuck by funneling people around a side building before the main entrance, which mostly resulted in even more walking. Getting in was easy-peasy as long as you had a small bag. We opened ours as we walked in and there were no problems at all. And it is 100% free to get in.

Ashley pro-tip:

for drinking water: get a plastic water bottle from the store and keep it in your pocket. At least Rare Dirndl pockets are deep enough that you can keep a water bottle in there, have your purse hang over it and then walk right in with it. Then you can fill it at a Trinkwasser station (or in the bathroom if you're really thirsty).

My pro tip is to either right before your potty break or right after, chug half the bottle.

When we got there, I was immediately struck by how many little stalls and souvenir areas there were, plus SO many food options. Ashley got a bratwurst and I got Käsespätzle, the classic kind with crispy onions. OMG was this delicious. Cheesy, crunchy and heaven in my mouth. We finished our food because you cannot bring outside food into the tents, and you cannot bring anything out of the tent. So if you order it, you gotta eat it. (I did keep a bit of pretzel in my pocket, later dubbed my “Pocket Pretzel.”) If they can see you leaving with it, they'll stop you, especially if it is a beer. You can't walk very far from your table with the beer.

We met my friend Scott, who is the co-owner of our favorite German bar and resteraunt in Chicago, Laschet's Inn, who had a reservation at the Paulaner Festzelt. He had to come get us and give us a wristband because if you didn't walk in with the person who made the reservation, you're not getting in.

There were people walking around selling pretzels, little Lebkuchenherz pins with different phrases on them, goofy hats, balloons and pins. I wanted to get my kids a pin, and I chose this year's poster design on the pin, but he was sold out. Then later he brought over a colleague who had three for me. I thought that was so kind. With the hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people in the tent, he thought to come back to me. The prices are the same inside the tent as outside, but inside it's nice to tip the folks who brought it to you, and he was so sweet that I was happy to.

We stayed there for a Maß of Paulaner and then headed out to the Löwenbräu tent.

There we met up with Ashley's friends, who had a reservation at Löwenbräu on the balcony level. Ashley told me those tables are not as desirable as the lower levels, but it was so cool to see the tent from higher up. Most of the large tents have multiple levels. During the day, we were able to walk right up. We had a Maß, but this time we asked for a Radler, which is half Festbier and half German Sprite.

One of the most surreal moments was meeing the Bayerische Weißwurstkönigin. Ashley, being the awesome traveler that she is, once stayed at the Bratwurst Hotel in Rittersbach, Germany, and met the owner, who then introduced her to his daughter. They stayed in contact and this year she was the Bayerische Weißwurstkönigin, the Weisswurst Queen of Bavaria. She was in the parade both Saturday and Sunday. Ashley got a message from her and then we went outside to meet her and take some photos. She was so very sweet, and now I for sure have to take my family to stay at the Bratwurst Hotel. It sounds so cute!

After that I wanted to watch people fall on their ass at the Toboggan ride, so we did, and it did not disappoint. I was actually impressed to see so many people jump right on there and do it so successfully. Then we wandered around and saw more of the sights and sounds of Oktoberfest.

Next we met up with one of my longtime customers, Amy. She's a flight attendant for United and stops at Oktoberfest every year. She had a table at the Hofbräu tent, which is known as the tent most frequented by Americans and the rowdiest tent. We had a Hofbräu Radler there as well, and in that short amount of time I saw a guy get aggressively escorted out by security, someone dropped their full beer behind me and it pretty much flew back into his face and down the back of my dirndl, and as we were leaving there was definitely someone's blood on the floor.

It was like 7pm!

After that we decided to head home because we were both really tired and needed a little quiet. I had a wicked headache (likely dehydration and flights usually make me feel meh). We walked to the nearby Hand im Glück for dinner. This is a chain restaurant that serves burgers and it was tasty. I don't think anywhere else in the world can do a burger quite like the US, but it was pretty good.

To drink, Ashley wanted me to try an Almdudler, which is an Austrian soda that's kind of like an herbaceous ginger ale. It was light and refreshing, not too sweet, and the bottle was so adorable.

And that was the end of Day 1.

Monday, September 21

For Monday I wore one of my all-time favorite dirndls, the Zodiac Dirndl in my sign, Sagittarius, with black socks and my Target knockoff Doc Martens. (They're more broken in and comfortable than my name-brand ones). Ashley wore the Magician Dirndl.

It was chilly, so we decided to take a walk to a dirndl store that we hadn't gotten to on Saturday to see if we could get sweaters. We both brought one and boy was I glad we did! The forecast said 70s, so we also didn't think we'd need them, but it was in fact only going to get to a high of 63. So it was chilly, especially in the shade. So of all the things... this was one of the biggest takeaways for me to pass on to customers... bring a sweater (and a trachen sweater is preferable).

We had no one to meet and no real agenda on Monday, so Ashley's goal for me on this day was to see as many different types of tents as possible.

The first stop was the Fischer Vroni tent, a fishing family's tent named after their daughter. Ashley said, “I don't like staying in this tent, but you have to see it.” As soon as I walked in, I knew exactly why she didn't like staying there.

The smell of fish is... in-tents. (hehe)

But the inside is so cool, and the band plays from the bow of a ship. After that we walked around the tent to see how they make the fish outside, and I love fish, so I was 100% down to dig into one.

I ordered the Makrele because it seemed like that was the locals' favorite and I have salmon at home. Oh man. It was SO good. We split one, which was perfect because one whole fish just for me would have been too much. The skin was loaded with herbs and salt (plenty of salt), but the inside was so moist and flavorful. So much so that I did indeed have fish burps for the rest of the day. (Ashley didn't, so don't let my experience deter you from trying it.) It was €4.50 per 100g, so our fish ended up being around €18.

One of the things we didn't get to do on Sunday was get into the Pschorr Bräurosl. Scott told us that it is dubbed Gay Sunday in the tent and the fashion is outstanding, so we couldn't miss it. Well, we in fact did miss it. The line was so long and then eventually they closed the doors. We later found out it was because Heidi Klum was in that tent that night.

So... new plan. Go to that tent for Gay Monday!

The fashion was... less apparent. I saw far more women in lederhosen than I did fabulous queens in dirndls, but it was still so much fun. It was 2pm and people were already standing on benches and dancing.

There was a table with two girls sitting at it, so we asked if we could sit and they said of course, but there were three other people smoking and they would be coming back. We got a Maß of Hacker-Pschorr and then the three guys came back, which we later found out were from Italy. They were disappointed to learn we were both happily married, but were really respectful.

After they went out for another smoke break, the girls on the end invited us to scooch down by them. One gal was a Munich local and her friend was from Rothenburg. They were so nice and we had so much fun singing and dancing with them.

But after our Maß, it was time to keep moving.

Before we left we went to the restrooms where Ashley was stopped and recognized, and then I also saw another Rare Dirndl. Besides Amy from the night before and her friend, this was the first Rare Dirndl I saw in the wild and I was SO excited.

We stopped into the Schottenhamel tent, which we heard a fellow traveler call the Schottenhamel Kindergarten because most of the people in there are very young. Like, they look like teenagers.

I have to look into why the waitresses had to wear such silly-looking outfits. There has to be some history there. Every other tent we visited had waitresses in lovely dirndls (mostly blue) and the men had lederhosen, white shirts and vests, but in this tent the waitresses wore this old-timey nurse-looking outfit. It gave me the weirds.

Then we went over to the Oide Wiesn, which is the part of the fest where you'll see traditional dancers, lots of Blasmusik and it's meant to be as it was in the 1800s. It costs €4 to enter.

When we arrived, we walked into the first tent, which had some games better for little kids and a display of all the Oktoberfest posters since the '50s.

I found 1986. My birth year. And honestly, it felt like it was two hours before they had to release the poster and they were like, “Oh scheiße, put the Maßkrug on the poster and some color on it." "I only have these pencils.” “Ja... Okay, that's fine.”

2007 was my favorite design.

This year's design seemed kind of busy. A little much muchness for me.

We walked through the area and then went to one of the bigger tents called the Schützenlisl. It was a beautiful tent that looked like an Alpine lodge. We saw the old-time bowling alley, complete with a four-piece band playing on top of it!

Then we went to have lunch at Festzelt Tradition because I wanted to see some dancers. There we saw some folks performing their alphorns and then a Schuhplattler group performed. I had an Apfelschorle with lunch and Ashley had half cola and half orange soda (which apparently is a thing) and we split the Münchener Schnitzel. It was a schnitzel stuffed with Obatzda cheese and bacon and a side of potato salad. 'Twas all delicious.

I really enjoyed listening to the band play and watching the little kids dancing on the stage. It was clearly a quieter area where locals took their families, and I loved seeing that.

After that we met up with Ashley's friends at the Marstall Festzelt, the newest of the big tents. I thought the decor was so sweet. Lots of hearts and a unique color palette of pink, teal and yellow, and then the band played on a stage that looked like a carousel. This tent is also known for serving champagne in addition to beer.

The tables were on the balcony, but since it was the evening, we needed to be escorted by someone on the reservation. We both had a Spaten Radler. Before we left, we worked our way to the edge of the balcony. This band was so fun and we had a great time dancing and singing.

Side note:

I tend to get stage fright when I speak German, but I promised myself I would try as much as I could this trip and I was really proud of myself. Mostly because it usually took a few sentences before I had to stumble to find the right words, and then it was revealed that I was American and most people were surprised.

They were also VERY, very confused by my life.

The fact that I make dirndls for a living and sell them to Americans. The fact that the picture on my phone is of my kids and they're wearing Tracht. How I know the German words to a lot of the songs they're playing and that we have German festivals in America that would warrant people wearing dirndls.

I could see their brains cracking a little when I was explaining it.

It was a highlight for sure, lol.

After that we decided to head home. But on the way out I wanted to get a Wiesnglupperl for the Rare Dirndl team to wear as name tags at events instead of the laminated paper. So we stopped at the stall right at the entrance/exit and I told them what I wanted on it. The sweetest little old lady wood-burned them right there.

When we were back at the hotel we did typical blogger things: went through photos, shared photos and enjoyed the evening delights of Bernd das Brot.

We also made a list of all the things we needed to do on our last day so we didn't forget or miss anything.

Tuesday, September 22

Tuesday started with a walk to the Wiesn, but we took a roundabout way to pop into one last dirndl store. Then, on our way from there, I saw a little black dirndl on the other side of the street, so I stopped her and was again SO excited to see someone in one of my designs just walking around.

Especially someone I didn't know at all!

I wore my Loden Green Everyday Dirndl with a green blouse, chain belt (that has no joke been in my closet since 2015, but I saw they were in style so I grabbed it), ruffled ankle socks and my clean sneakers.

The plan was to come back midday and change my blouse and shoes to create a new look, but I decided I would rather experience more than have more photos of dirndl styling.

Ashley wore the new Champagne Dreams Dirndl with a blouse bodysuit and her “Wiesn boots.”

Ashley pro-tip: bring plastic bags to put your shoes in after you wear them to Oktoberfest. Because there is a really, really, really good chance you'll step in piss, vomit, horse shit... Or all of the above.

The first Tuesday is Family Day, so many of the rides were half price and we saw the cutest thing in the world: school field trips!

Kids in dirndls and lederhosen with their little reflective vests, some of them connected by strings, walking through the fest. My heart was melting.

Our first stop for the day was the Reisenrad, the Ferris wheel. We had been trying to wait for a super clear day so that we could see the mountains, but with only today left, it was now or never. We still got good views of the Wiesn from above.

The thing I noticed from up there was how many trailers there were behind the games, rides and stalls. It looked like people's personal trailers where they work the Wiesn during the day and then go to sleep right there. If they don't live in Munich, that makes sense if you have to be there for 14 hours a day for 16 days straight.

The next stop was the Hacker-Pschorr Festzelt. This is another really beautiful tent and a classic for sure. My friend and fellow Kinderleiterin was celebrating her 40th birthday and had a reservation there and invited Ashley and me to join.

We had our first Maß of Hacker-Pschorr there along with lunch. I got my favorite (and something on the must-do list), a Schweinshaxe.

It was SO good. The skin was crispy, the Knödel was delicious and gooey. The food is indeed on the salty side, but I certainly don't mind. Helps me finish such a large beer!

It was also super fun to sit with people that I've been friends with for well over 30 years at an event that is on all of our bucket lists.

After our Maß we wandered about on our way to the Teufelsrad, or Devil's Wheel, and popped into some of the much smaller tents to see the differences. It was super chill in there and seemed like a great local lunch spot.

The Teufelsrad, like the Toboggan, is an Oktoberfest classic that gets lots of love on social media. The MC calls out something like, “Men in short lederhosen, 18+,” and then they all jump on the wheel trying to get as close to the center as they can. Because once the operator turns it on and it starts moving, people start flying off right and left until there's just one left.

Then they use a big ball from the ceiling to knock them out. If that doesn't work, they bring out the ropes. And if that doesn't work, they bring out the lassos.

What was completely unhinged about today was that since it was Family Day, they called a lot of kids up to do it. When they had the littlest ones, as soon as there were tears, the operator stopped it. But when it came to the 10-14-year-olds... There was no mercy.

But also these kids were experienced! They knew exactly how to avoid getting trapped in the ropes, but by the end the workers were straight-up lassoing these kids off.

The operator was very good about watching to make sure if a rope was caught around someone's neck, they stopped the wheel until they could get free.

The 14-year-old boy? He was a pro. He just walked off because both he and the workers knew they would be there all day. LOL.

After that, it was time to shoot some BB guns.

I love shooting BB guns at carnivals, but in the US I feel like they are never properly aligned. But not here! You know how I know? Because I shot 10/10, baby! I brought my kids home some little axolotl keychains and Ashley and I each got a rose.

Since Ashley got some coupons from her friends for a beer and half chicken at Löwenbräu, we decided to go there for a Maß, Dampfnudel and to meet up with some other friends. Again... more dancing on benches, more singing and more fun.

But after a while we were both getting bumped and shoved and we agreed it was time to leave and check off the last thing on our list: getting a Lebkuchenherz with Rare Dirndl on it.

We stopped at the first booth we saw and they said, “Nope, can't personalize it.”

So we went to another one. “Nope.”

Well, I KNEW that they did it. So we tried the one closest to the entrance, where she said, “No, they don't do it.” But this time she told us there was one booth in the entire place that would do it for you and she gave us great directions on where to go.

We easily found it and ordered it. Then the lady told us it would be ready in 45 minutes.

We intentionally left this as the last thing to do before we left so I didn't have to schlep around a giant cookie around my neck. But in hindsight... Duh. We could have had it ordered and then picked it up on the way out. The icing needs to set!

So we walked back to the hotel, Ashley changed into regular clothes, and I changed into my other look!! I was very excited that I didn't schlep my new Doc Marten Mary Janes all the way to Germany without wearing them. By the time we got back, changed and walked back to the Wiesn, my cookie was ready.

We took a few more photos and it was actually really cool to see the fest when it was REALLY dark.

We had been heading out around 7 or 8pm, so we'd seen it when it was getting dark, but when we came back around 9pm it was fully dark and there were so many lights and sounds and a great many people who could not walk straight, stand up straight or avoid other people.

Luckily, we were sober-ish and could dodge any oncoming drunkards. It was kind of like the video games my kids play, except I was in heels, a dirndl and it was real life!

We stopped for a döner kebab on the way back to the hotel, where we washed up and then ate in bed.

And it was glorious.

We made a plan to pack in the morning, what time we needed to get up and get to the airport, and then we both got on our phones to check into our flights.

Which was when I realized that my flight was not at 3:40pm. It was at 10am. I had fully convinced myself since before I left for this trip that my return flight was at 3pm.

So, quick change of plans.

I packed my bags and prepared everything because my dumbass needed to be up at 5:20am to get to the Bahnhof and then to the airport by 7 or 7:30.

And that was the end of my first Oktoberfest.

Lots of people have asked if the Oktoberfest was what I expected and, to be honest, yes. Probably because I've seen so many photos and videos over the years, plus I've read many of Ashley's blog posts.

Three full days at the Wiesn, an absolutely ridiculous amount of food, several Maß, a suspicious amount of fish, one Pocket Pretzel, a lot of dancing, a lot of singing, multiple Rare Dirndls spotted in the wild, and approximately 900 things I still didn't get to see.

So yeah.

I'll be back.