The Oktoberfest is over – long live the Oktoberfest!

Munich, Monday 7^th October 2013: a poor benighted city. It’s the moment everyone terrifies, that realisation as they wake up when they realise the Oktoberfest really is finished. Friends who came to visit have left, hangovers start to rage, and around thirty of the best drinking establishments the city ever saw have closed overnight. It’s enough to make a Munich resident depressive.

Then again, there is a spark of hope even in this, the darkest of Monday mornings: the “Wiesn” will come around again. In fact, in less than a full year: on 20^th September 2014, to be precise.

So after one Oktoberfest is, in fact, before the next Oktoberfest – which means that there is already something to look forward to, however vaguely. And since we’re already counting down to the next Oktoberfest, there’s no harm in starting to get ready for it.What do our preparations look like? Well, we’ll detox for a week or two (some do it for months), with no more delicious beer or hearty food. That way, we’ll be sure to fit into our favourite dirndls and lederhosen, and we’ll also be hungry for all that good stuff again next year. After all, who needs to, wants to, or is able to eat an entire pork knuckle every day?

And there you go, October’s already gone by, and it’s November. What is the key thing about this month? It’s the month when reservations in the big tents for 2014 open, and the early bird might – with a bit of luck and a following wind – catch a worm.

Then it’s Christmas, Three Kings (massively popular in Bavaria), Mardi Gras (also popular down here), the Strong Beer Festival (a Munich March tradition, all beer steins and dirndls and lederhosen), Easter and, all of a sudden, it’s spring and we start thinking about how to stay in shape for the Oktoberfest: the girls keep trim, the boys start weights training for their calf muscles. While we’ve still got plenty of time in the summer, we stock up on the Bavarian fashion items we need – and on German party hits to get us in the mood.And before you know it, they’re tapping the first keg for the Oktoberfest 2014!