October beer festival on a German campsite
 The ‘Oktoberfest’, the annual beer festival in the south of Germany, is a remarkable phenomenon. Its a large party tent with long wooden benches in a row to sit on, and a brass band to keep up the spirit and lots of beer. A cheerful party, meant to fraternize with the one next to you.
It is obvious that to the average German, beer plays an important role in his life. On our Campsite in Germany there was plenty of beer. There’s nothing wrong with that. Of course there are other countries where a good quality of lager beer is being brewed, but on Campsites in Germany it’s the quantity of beer in one glass thats good. In most countries you chat with a relative small glass in your hand, but at German campsites its pints in beer mugs with grips. There are those who can swallow the whole pint in one big gulp, but generally speaking at a Campsite in Germany you can take your time. Being a German bar man must be an easy job.
Record keepers
The average German drinks about 150 litres of ale each year, and they’re the world record holders. The Czechs follow at a distance, with
some 134 litres. Well done, but the town of Pilsen of course is situated in the Czech Republic. Wine countries like France, Italy and Greece can't
match even a quarter of the amount of beer the Germans drink, and the Dutch and British with their 99 litres are far behind the top five. The
Danish are about the same. That’s a remarkable effort, especially when you keep in mind that the price of a simple glass of beer is quite
high over there.
 “Ozapft is!”
Undoubtedly the climax of German beer consumption is during the ‘Oktoberfest’ on German campsites and party halls. This is a sixteen
day national festival and more popular in the Bavaria region than the carnival. The tradition says that when the mayor of Munich hits the first
barrel, a shout of “Ozapft is!” means the party has started on the German campsite. Over the sixteen day period around five million
litres of beer find their way to hundreds of thousand thirsty throats. At Campsites in Germany in a large party tent you don’t sit on a
chair, but on a long wooden bench at even longer wooden tables, that in spite of their heavy construction are hardly able to carry the loaded mugs
weight. The ale is served by girls that undoubtedly have been training all year long with heavy weights to carry the enormous amount of beer.
 Fraternizing
Last October I was on a Campsite in Germany. Just smelling the atmosphere as a foreigner between the cheerful Germans. In a big party tent
painted in the well known white and blue Bavarian colours. The opening of the beer barrels went with a big cheer, and the brass band did their
best to add to the atmosphere. Every now and then a local cheerleader came forward with a practical joke or two, and the laughing kept going
through the German campsite party tent. At the other side of my table five overweight men were having a good time. They managed to swallow a
large number of pints, while burping all the time. I felt a bit awkward with these guys. It’s not that I don’t like cheerful people,
but these five men behaved a bit too bad. Just when I had decided to look for another bench, I heard one of them say in my own language
that ‘it’s about time to drain some at the loo’. Well, how about that… I presumed them to be locals, but in fact they
were some of my own ill-mannered countrymen on a German campsite. Just prejudgements. Ill-mannered people are from everywhere. I hardly had got
over their ignorance when a slim girl in traditional Bavarian clothes gently asked me if I wanted some more beer. In both of her small hands were
four full beer mugs and she was holding them with the same ease as if she was holding a box of napkins. Well, the October festival has made one
thing clear to me this is the place to be.
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