Oktoberfest 2017 - Table Reservations?

I'm sure many will chime in, we all have our respective experiences at Oktoberfest. My two cents on your questions....

1) Here's a list of the tents and the contact information is linked. You should be able to reserve through these contacts.

2) Weekends are always more crowded...great that you intend to go on Thursday 9/21, you should have less problems getting a table on that day

3) Most "seatings" go from 11AM-4PM and 4PM-9PM. If you get anywhere at an earlier time (10ish) you should have no problem getting a table for 10 people. As always, it depends on the weather. Good weather means lots of outside space available, bad weather means all fight for indoor seating.

4) My best advice...Tip your waitress heavy with 1st round of beer and she will treat you well.

5) Friday night will be a zoo. A real zoo with lots of very drunk weird people. If anyone in the group doesn't like belligerent drunks, avoid this time/place.

 

Sadly, you can forget about getting any evening reservations. Daytime reservation during the weekdays should still be possible in most tents.The daytime is also fun, but much more traditional. Still, it means that you are in a tent and you can try to jump to an unreserved area before the evening crowd starts rolling in.

Reservations cannot be made unless you book and pay in advance for at least 10 people - tables are "sold" in sets of 10. For each person, you pay for 2 liters of beer and a 1/2 chicken dinner in advance. Credit Cards and North American checks are not accepted. To make a reservation, you need to contact each of the 14 tents separately, since they are run by separate "Tent Hosts."The next issue is picking up the tickets - they might send them for you, but you can also pick them up at the tent office inside of the tent when you get to Munich.

Reservations sell out quickly (Evening reservations are already gone) since it operates much like season tickets - last year's guests get first right of refusal. But, Tent reservations are not necessarily required. Each tent is required to set aside a certain percentage of non-reserved tables. These seats are taken on a first-come first served basis. On weekends, people line up at dawn to get into the tent. If you arrive later, you will often find the tent is over capacity and no one further is admitted. If you avoid weekends and holidays and arrive before 5 PM, you should be able to get into most any tent and find a seat, albeit not as a group.

You then find the unreserved section and ask the table occupants, "Ist hier frei?" If they say yes, then you are free to sit down and occupy the seat as long as you wish. You must have a seat in order to be sold a beer. Simply put, do not go on weekends - it is beyond crazy. You will be frustrated and likely will not have much fun.

During the daytime, the bands typical play oompah music and are restricted to lower decibel limit. At 18:00 the bands start to crank it up and the party really starts. There is a lot of information about what to expect in the beer tent here: http://www.bayerntrips.com/tips-tri...re.html#What Actually Happens in a Beer Tent?

Viel Spass!

 

Great link, thanks. I'll be much better prepared now.

 

The most popular tent is Augustiner. In '14 I went on a Thursday and it was packed at noon. Paulaner almost empty in the unreserved section. I was alone so i frei'd myself into a table with some nice university girls that wanted to practice Englisch....

 

Nice!!

Did you misspell "English" on purpose!?!

Cheers!

 

Oktoberfest always sounds like a bad time to visit a great bier city...

 

If you like beer and beer culture, you need to experience it at least once. Yes, it's a big party, but that's how it earned its reputation. Right, @Bierman9 ?

Go in the early afternoon when it's more relaxed, then spend the evening at a nice mellow Biergarten. Or, let your inhibitions run wild.

@biermark -- the years I went the Hippodrome and HB tents were the most "popular." Read: rowdy.

The other tents were certainly crowded come evening, but the crowds weren't as out-of-hand as the other 2.

 

There's loads of other ones to attend that are every bit as good as Oktoberfest if not better in my opinion.

Yes it's a great experience but the hassle of getting in can be a real hassle that personally I can do without and having attended a good few other beer festivals in Bavaria Oktoberfest is the only one where getting in and served has been an issue.

Oh, and did I mention the pricing of it all too? The over pricing I should say.

 

Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded. ( Yogi Berra). Say all you want, it's still the big daddy of all the beer festivals. However, there are some really great festivals if you care to delve into things bit: Starkbierfest, Canstatter Wasen, Dachauer Volksfest, Straubinger, Anna Fest, etc, etc etc....

 

I hear this from Germans all the time, but compared to beer prices in bars or at festivals here in the U.S., I'll gladly pay 10.50 Euros for a liter!

 

I have never reserved a table in advance before, but I have never been part of a group that large either. The last few years I have popped into the Fischer Vroni tent in the early afternoon weekdays it has been nearly empty.... At 4p the tables are taken over by reservations. I sit outside often, too, to soak up some rays, eat some cheese and enjoy the suds. Woof woof....

 

I agree about going at least once, it's like a midwest state fair with a bier focus.
I went on a Thursday at noon and went back on Friday to walk what I missed. I left and went to Weisses for the afternoon.
I like the smaller Volksfest too. I went to Freisings' and will go to Landau-Isar this July.

 

Not sure where to post this but related to OP..
Friends and I (4 total) will be there October 28, 29, 30 and wondering how best to go at this. It doesn't seem like we have enough people to make a tent reservation so is there anywhere I can search for another party of 4 to join or should we just wing it and try to get a spot in one of the tents without evening reservations?

 

You're going to miss Oktoberfest...it's ends 3 Oct.

 

My bad, meant to write September 29, 29, 30

 

Whew! Good save!

Beyond that, don't worry about reservations -- get there a little earlier (beat the 5:00 business closings) and make friends! In all of my trips to the Fest (much as @Bierman9 reports) I've never made table reservations, looked for small empty spots at tables, and smiled my way in.

"Noch Frei?" is the key cry -- means, "Is that spot free?" Many revelers have beckoned me in with big enthusiasm.

 

Yeah, and snag a few big-ass pretzels and offer them around.... or pick up a Bier for someone... Lots of ways to get welcomed in...

Prosit!

 

Nice!

 

Good to hear! Are there any tents that we must see/drink/eat at?