So it’s October now, and more than one person in North America has asked me if I know anything about Oktoberfest, since we’re living in Germany now.

As it happens, I do have some somewhat surprising information to pass along.

For the record, the big Oktoberfest celebration that we North Americans tend to think of — at least the one that I tend to think of — is the one that occurs every year in Munich. It’s a big drinking and partying festival, where people drink way too much, there are way too many people, and chaos inevitably ensues. At least that’s the reputation for the festival, and from what I’ve read about and heard about from people here, that’s all true.

There’s a cute little hotel where always stay when we go to Munich, and it is actually located near the edge of the fairgrounds where the Oktoberfest festival is set up every year. During most of the year it looks like this:

Off-season at the Oktoberfest site, Munich, June 2009

Empty, barren, desolate. Not an obvious spot to be the site of raucous merrymaking when you catch sight of it in the off-season.

But in the month before the big celebration, the fairgrounds come alive with the construction of manner of temporary stalls, amusement park rides, and beer garden tents. We were there at the end of August this year, when they were hard at work putting everything in place:

Oktoberfest being setup - #1

Oktoberfest being setup - #2

Oktoberfest being setup - #3

Oktoberfest being setup - #4

Oktoberfest being setup - #5

Now, neither CC nor I are big fans of chaotic drinking festivals. We’re always up for checking out a good food and wine festival, of course, but that sort of thing usually has a mix of interesting foods and tasty wines. That’s not what Oktoberfest is all about, since the focus is on drinking beer, and then drinking some more beer.

So we decided to give Oktoberfest a miss this year, even though Munich is less than 4 hours away by train. And to be honest, Munich was about 4 hours away by train from Bolzano, too, and the thought of going to Oktoberfest while we lived there was never a temptation, either.  It just seems like people are asking me about it more now, since we live in the country where the festival is held, I guess.

Anyway, since we haven’t ever gone,  I can’t report about what really happens during Oktoberfest, since we only saw the preparations for the festival back in August, and not the festival itself in full swing.

But we did learn the little-known-fact about Oktoberfest that I never remember hearing in North America and which I will now reveal to you. It turns out that the name of this festival is a complete misnomer. The dates for 2011 Oktoberfest in Munich were September 17 – October 3.

Yup, you read that right. Oktoberfest happens mostly in September. OK, once upon a time, a long time ago, it took place in October. But that hasn’t happened in a long, long time.

And now you know pretty much everything I know about Septemberfest — er, Oktoberfest — in Munich. 😉