Posted by trachten in Bavaria, Dirndl and Lederhosen, Oktoberfest, slider | Comments Off on The Oktoberfest 2013 – Our look back
The Oktoberfest 2013 – Our look back
It might have taken a couple of days, but we’ve got to the point where we can take a look back at this year’s Oktoberfest without getting all sniffly and reaching for the tissues. What’s over is over – and this year, the Wiesn really was spectacular!
Let’s start by taking a look at the figures: despite wind and rain in the second week, a total of 6.4 million visitors came to the Oktoberfest 2013. That’s an incredible number when you consider that Munich and its urban region only has a total of around five million inhabitants! For comparison, 6.4 million is the rough equivalent of the population of the Miami metropolitan area in the US or the whole of North West England!
What was particularly good to see was the traditional Oide Wiesn part of the Theresienwiese getting around half a million of those visits. Who would have thought it? And then there were the top figures for food and drink (114 whole oxen consumed!) along with pleasingly low crime figures in almost every respect.
So these figures kind of confirm what we feel, which is that the Oktoberfest 2013 is one that will be remembered for a long time.
Oktoberfest 2013 was the year of strong primary colours – both for the boys and for the girls!
Having said that, what we will really remember is not figures, but clothes! For those of us who love Bavarian dress and modern Bavarian fashion, this really was a special year. There was everything from bright, trendy colours and adventurous combinations – and not just for girls, but for guys! – through to traditional dresses and lederhosen worn not just by Bavarians, not even just by Germans, but by all of us from everywhere.
And then there was the traditional “Tracht” – i.e. the real Bavarian dress – a real sight to see and filled with exciting elements. There were the fellows with embroidered braces on their inherited lederhosen and the Loferl calf-warmers; there were the ladies with long, luxurious dresses packed full of detailed stitching and patterns.
This year, simply everything was there, from members of authentic Bavarian clothing clubs (Trachtenverein) through to amateurs like ourselves with a love for lederhosen and dirndl and the willingness to try something new. There was never as much Bavarian fashion on show as at the 2013 Oktoberfest.
