Imagine your craziest, busiest night at work. Then imagine that night happening for two weeks straight! Everything is backed up. The place is packed. You can barely keep the bar stocked.

Now imagine serving 1.98 million gallons of beer to over 6.9 million people.  It's not a nightmare or a joke - it's Oktoberfest. 

Oktoberfest is an annual festival celebrated in Munich, Germany.  This year marks the 179th festival, which will run from September 22nd through October 7th.  

The first celebration was held in 1810 for the marriage of Prince Ludwig and featured horse races and an agricultural fair.  The horse races are history, but the celebration continues with a slightly different focus.  Oktoberfest includes 14 large beer tents and 21 small beer tents.  In addition to beer, festivities include music, food, carnival rides, parades, traditional costumes, and souvenirs. 

Oktoberfest was originally celebrated in October but was moved up to take advantage of the nicer weather.  The final weekend of the festival still falls in October. 

Oktoberfest starts at noon on the first day with the mayor of Munich tapping the first keg and announcing "O'zapft is!" (which means "It is tapped"). 

The beers served at Oktoberfest are all brewed by Munich breweries specifically for the festival.  These breweries are: Paulaner, Augustiner- Bräu, Löwenbräu, Hofbräu, Spaten and Hacker-Pschorr.

The two largest beer tents are the Winzerer Fähndl with 8,450 seats inside and 2,450 seats outside and the Schottenhamel with 6,000 seats inside and 4,000 seats outside.  Even with that many seats, the large tents are often full and reservations are recommended.

Want to plan a trip for next year? Oktoberfest 2013 will run from September 21st through October 6th. 

To get in on the action, you'll need a plane ticket, a passport and some time off work. However, that doesn't mean you can't get a taste of Oktoberfest right here at home. 

Some beers from Munich breweries are available here in the states, and some other breweries create Oktoberfest-style beers that can be great to highlight.  Breweries selling Oktoberfest beers include Beck's, Sam Adams, Brooklyn Brewery, Harpoon, Shiner and others.

To go along with your beer, we recommend enjoying some traditional foods like bratwursts, sauerkraut, hendel (spit-roasted chicken), dumplings, potato soup, and soft pretzels.   

You can also recreate a popular Oktoberfest souvenir - the gingerbread necklace, which is a large heart-shaped gingerbread cookie, decorated with frosting and hung on a ribbon or cord.

  

Just like the servers in the beer tents, remember to follow the law and practice responsible serving^®.  For information on responsible serving^® of alcohol, check out our online training.