TOPS at SPAR Bierfest beer party at Suncoast

THE Munich Oktoberfest tradition began in 1810 to celebrate the marriage of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig to Saxon-Hildburghausen Princess Therese.

While it is still held on the Theresienweise (Theresa’s Meadow), what began as a horse race with a few beers over five days leading up to a wedding, became anniversary celebrations with an agricultural show before evolving into what could be the universe’s largest beer party. You have to take a look at the numbers behind this beautiful madness to really appreciate the scale and scope of what these lederhosen legends getup to once a year.

The Oktoberfest actually starts in September. The rules are that it runs for just over two weeks – ending on the first Sunday in October. This is so you can make sure the Oktoberfest beer you’ll be drinking “Märzen”, because it’s made in March, is at its absolute best after aging over the whole summer.

At noon on the opening day of the festival, the Mayor of Munich opens the first keg himself with a wooden hammer and everyone proclaims, “o zapft is” (it is open!) to announce that the river of beer has begun to flow. But how much beer and how many people exactly?

Here’s the most recent official numbers from the Munich Oktoberfest (2016): in an area of 42ha, they cram 14 large tents and beer gardens that provide seating for almost 100 000 people at a time all told.

The 16-day event attracts 7.2 million visitors who drink about 7 million litres of beer, 95 000 litres of wine and 42500 litres of sparkling wine – while eating 280000 pork sausages, 75 000 shanks, 550 000 whole chickens and 45000kg of fish while losing 480 phones, 400 keys, 950 identity cards, two wedding rings and a dog per year.

That’s quite an impressive tally for an event that’s been going for almost two hundred years!

These figures also don’t take into account the number of sausages, chickens and delicious beers sold outside the Oktoberfest grounds in the rest of Munich at the time.

There is another smaller event that has only been running for eight years but, on average, sells more beer to more people per square meter per hour than an Oktoberfest tent, right here in South Africa.

The TOPS at SPAR Bierfest – in association with Independent on Saturday and proudly poured by CBC – is coming to Suncoast from August 31-September 1.

Another added bonus is that a litre of beer will set you back over in Munich, but by teaming up with a German master brewer right here in South Africa, we can offer ours at a price that will keep them coming.

ExBIERence three times the beer and three times the fun for yourself – get to bierfest.co.za to secure your entry to this Schmidt-hot celebration.