Rides, German food and beer, these are the tell-tale signs that Oktoberfest is here.

Oktoberfest, an event created to celebrate the wedding of Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese, has become a tradition in other parts of the world, including America, but there are differences in the way we celebrate it from the way they celebrate it in Germany. In America, Oktoberfest lasts four days unlike Germany where it last a couple weeks.

“The Oktoberfest in Germany also gets started by having a huge parade through Munich which is televised all over Germany. The Oktoberfest in the US seems to have fairly small affairs with one beer tent and a few rides. In Munich the Oktoberfest boasts 14 large tents (they seat between 5000 and 10000 people) and countless smaller ones,” German transplant Anke Cox said.

The difference in the size of Germany’s Oktoberfest compared to America’s Oktoberfest is major with only a few thousand showing up to America’s and six to seven million showing up to Germany’s. It is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Germany and you can tell by the size of it.

“You can spend an entire day and night at the ‘real’ Oktoberfest and still haven’t done it all. The atmosphere is more laid back and the whole area is just packed full of people from all over the world. You do not pay an entry fee to get into the Oktoberfest in Germany; you just have to pay for the rides you want to ride.” Cox said.

In America, we have a limited amount of German food including bratwurst, jagerschnitzel and pizza, but in Germany there is variety of food that amounts to be a German buffet that you can go to feature all sorts of German food. People wear traditional German garments to celebrate.

“Lots of people go to the Oktoberfest in their normal, everyday clothing, but you will also see many people wear the traditional Bavarian Tracht (Bavarian national costume). Women wear what is called a Dirndl and men wear Lederhosen. Of course there is bratwurst, but you can also get Weisswurst (a whitish looking sausage) Leberkaese, Bezeln (very large pretzels) rotisserie chicken and even whole oxen grilled over a fire,” Cox said.
Although the two are different, Oktoberfest in either place can be good to go to with friends just to have a good time and hang out. According to sophomore Taylor Rowe, the atmosphere at the one held on Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville is friendly.
“This year I went early, so it was kind of quiet, but it was exciting and there were a lot of rides and a whole bunch of good food. I got to spend the whole day with my friends and the adrenaline rushes form the rides,” Rowe said.