Think Bavaria, and you’d probably think of Bayern Munich. After all, it was arguably the worst kept secret in the world of football when Manchester United splashed £17 million ($51 million) to take England international Owen Hargreaves to the Theatre of Dreams from the Allianz Arena recently.

But did you know that besides its prominent football team, the capital of Bavaria also plays host yearly to the largest beer guzzling festival in the world? According to Erdinger, it’s none other than the Oktoberfest, a 5-day festival that first began back in Oct 12, 1810, “to honour the marriage of Bavaria’s Crown Prince Ludwig to Princess Therese Sachsen-Hilderburghausen”.

Anyway, back to the future, or present, in our case. While it’s good to experience the real McCoy, fans of Oktoberfest don’t have to make the annual pilgrimage to Munich to celebrate. Instead, Erdinger has decided to host Oktoberfest on our sunny shores of Singapore for the 3rd time running from Oct 23-27 at Merchant Loop (off Clarke Quay), which offers a greater seating capacity than last year’s venue, China Square Central.

Mr Desmond Tan, Marketing Manger for Erdinger at Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore said at the pre-Oktoberfest launch, “Oktoberfest is internationally synonymous with celebrating the best of German culture- traditional food and entertainment together with the very best beer.” And he added, “Erdinger is proud to be part of this rich cultural exchange and with the success of Erdinger’s foray into Oktoberfest celebrations in Singapore over the last 2 years, we’re confident that the spirit of Oktoberfest will be bigger and better in 2007.”

According to the organisers, “This year’s event promises to attract over 1,500 revellers a day, starting with a grand Opening Street Parade that will kick-off 5 days of glorious food, fun and entertainment.”

Feeding Time

So during Oktoberfest, let the traditional Singaporean fare of chilli crab, fried oysters, chicken wings and barbecued stingrays take a backseat for a change. Instead let your palette take in the wonderful flavours of Bavaria!

But before you begin your assault, do note that Bavarian cuisine is a little on the heavy side, especially with its meat dishes. So a word of advice, go there with an empty stomach to get your money’s worth, and so you can cram some more beer.

Try out authentic German treats like Schweinshaxe (Roasted Pork Knuckle), Rindgulash (Beef Stew) or Whole Roasted Lamb. They’re not exactly high on the doctor’s list of recommended food but since Oktoberfest only comes once a year, you might want to, ahem, give in a little to the tantalising fare.

And like we mentioned earlier, Oktoberfest is the largest beer guzzling festival in the world, so down all the scrumptious and sinful food (especially the Schweinshaxe) with an Erdinger or Heineken (alright it’s a Dutch beer but the Dutch are master brewers as well!).

Drinker’s Tip:

When it comes to chugging down beers in Germany, they usually toast with “Prost!” instead of the “Cheers!” or “Yum Seng!” that you and I might be accustomed to. But if you guys can’t seem to remember the proper, just remember the famous French F1 legend Alain Prost (ironic isn’t it?) or your doctor’s advice about your prostate and you’ll do fine!

It ain’t heavy, it’s Oktoberfest

But with Oktoberfest slated to begin only on Oct 23, perhaps, many of you might be thinking that the road to Erdinger’s Oktoberfest 2007 is simply too long that might leave you disinterested by the time the festival finally arrives.

Hence in order to build up interest for the festival, Erdinger will kick start the celebrations a month and a half earlier with its Erdinger Oktoberfest Festive Packs. Containing 2 bottles of Erdinger White and Erdinger Dark, along with 2 Erdinger signature glasses and other extra treats, these packs will be going on sale for $26.80 from Aug 15-Oct 31 at various supermarkets such as Giant, Carrefour and Cold Storage.

And taking a leaf from the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, which was held as a precursor to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the good people at Erdinger have decided to organise a few mini non-ticketed events at venues such as Timbre (Oct 17) and Hotel Rendezvous (Oct 17-20) just before the main event begins to give visitors a taste of what’s to come at the main event.

These locations will be transformed into little Bavarias, offering great food, beer and entertainment! Speaking of entertainment, the popular Bavarian band, Huttenpower, will be flown in to perform a series of traditional music performances to give these events that extra touch of authenticity.

And so with the transfer saga revolving Hargreaves finally resolved and Oktoberfest still a few months shy. All I can say about the long agonising wait is, “Wake me up when Sep ends.”

Ticketing Details

Presale: Aug 1-30

SISTIC: $41 (Oct 23-25) $ 43 (Oct 26-27)

Sept-Oct

SISTIC, Roadshows, Events and Telephone bookings (9488 0012): $44 (Oct 23-25) $47 (Oct 26-27)

Oct 23-27

Walk-in: $46 (Oct 23-25) $47 (Oct 26-27)

Pictures provided courtesy of 141worldwide