On one of our first bike rides, we noticed a sign out in the countryside advertising the upcoming Oktoberfest in Erfurt. We dutifully put the dates on our wall calendar. Oktoberfest in Erfurt? We thought Octoberfest was just in Munich - the world's largest beer festival. So yes, we were curious.
The Erfurt Oktoberfest coincided with the BUGA National Flower Festival, and both were being held at the Domplatz, or Cathedral Square. The BUGA festival had been going on for several months, and is a really big deal in these parts. The Erfurt market is also at the Cathedral Square, every morning from 6:00 am until 2:00 pm, except Sunday. One of the benefits of having all these events in Erfurt is that the trams run more frequently.
Ron and I decided we would check out the Oktoberfest in the middle of the week, in the middle of the day, to avoid the crowds we expected to find. When we arrived, we were quite surprised. First, there was no crowd at all. Second, it wasn't a beer festival, it was more like the Carolina Classic Fair. Seriously. Even the music blaring from the rides was almost entirely in English. But it was free to enter, so in we walked. Upon closer inspection, the food was a little bit different. And all the people were speaking German. And we needed Euros to buy tickets. But other than that....
There was a beer tent, although it was deserted. We purchased some carnival food (of course!) then walked back out onto the Domplatz to eat. Ron was absolutely awestruck by one particular ride. It was big, and loud, and incredibly terrifying. I tried to catch a bit of the atmosphere in this video:
Ron insisted we return at night so that we could see everything all lit up. About a week later, just before the Oktoberfest was over, we returned at night. The line was so long, it snaked all the way down the block. We suspected it was at least an hour wait. But we could see the lights, and hear the screams just fine from outside the fence. And that is exactly what we did!
Click this video, and you can hear it, too!
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