Oktoberfest Sneak Preview

You may or may not know this, but Germany has more than just Oktoberfest in its repertoire of beer festivals. For example, here in Stuttgart there's a pretty big festival each spring in Bad Canstatt, called Fruelingsfest or Canstatter Wasen. Most people here described it to us as a mini-Oktoberfest, and if that's the truth, then I really can't wait for the real deal. It was crazy fun. Or as the Germans say, "Es war der hammer!". :)

Basically the festival is set up like a regular carnival or state fair: carnival rides, roller coasters, food stands, people challenging you to play their game and win giant stuffed animals, etc, but with the added bonus of "tents". In the tents is where potent beer is served in giant liter glasses, where a live band plays music, and where hundreds of happy patrons stand on their bench seats and sing & dance & drink all night. It was actually a little exhausting to sing and dance and drink the whole night, but hey, I guess someone's gotta do it!

The carnival part of the festival

Txema showing off his liter of beer (ein Mass)

Me taking my first swig
(note my rotated hand---it's too heavy to lift the normal way!)

Early in the night, as people started to stand on their benches for the songs

Later in the night, when everyone was standing on the benches!

Svea and Melanie singing along to our beloved "Cowboy" song
(mentioned before in this post)

Marcel, Achim, and Daniel raising their glasses for a "Prost"