Four Ways to Survive Work During Oktoberfest

Early numbers are in for the world’s largest 2012 beer festival. Despite Saturday’s rain, 850,000 people attended opening weekend of Oktoberfest in Munich. It didn’t slow beer consumption either: One million liters of beer were sold.

I put together a massive resource for those of you who are headed to Theresienwiese. And an extensive collection of Oktoberfest parties for those of you like me stuck in the United States. But I know that many more, like me, are stuck behind their computer monitor at work.

You definitely should not take advantage of one of these ways to enjoy Oktoberfest.

1. Watch it on Youtube.

Numerous people at Oktoberfest have already uploaded their videos from Oktoberfest to Youtube. You can enjoy everything from the keg tapping:

To the Oktoberfest parade:

2. Find Photos on the Internet.

Thanks to the popularity of Instagram, you can now see a steady stream of photos from people that are attending Oktoberfest. Try searching for my five favorite tags on Gramfeed: Oktoberfest, Wiesn, Dirndl, Munich, and Lederhosen.

You can also like these two Facebook Pages to see photos and updates on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/wiesn
http://www.facebook.com/Oktoberfest.Muenchen

3. Listen to Oktoberfest Songs.

Radio Gong 96,3, a Munich radio station, held their annual Wies’n Hit competition prior to the start of Oktoberfest. Over 200 songs were entered. The winner for 2012 was Rockaholixs Buam’s Bei uns in Bayern – “Here in Bavaria”

You can pretty easily put together a playlist of Oktoberfest hits on Youtube. You might start with some of these Oktoberfest songs. NPR Music has also put together a playlist of drinking songs.

4. Celebrate the end of the work day with an Oktoberfest beer.
Happy hour is one of the best ways to recover from a long day of work. Here are some suggestions for what to order. If you prefer to eat a home cooked meal, try these German recipes or this guide to cooking with beer for Oktoberfest from Whole Foods.