What a wild ride these 36 hours were - definitely an interesting weekend. We wanted to fit Germany in somehow, and we figured going for Springfest, the spring semester version of Oktoberfest, was the perfect excuse.
When looking into accommodations, we found Stoke Travel, a "travel agency" that arranges trips for a target market of Study Abroad students. The catch was their Springfest trip was camping just outside of Munich. We were sold because of the included dirndl (the iconic dress outfit), the included meals, and the bottomless drinks, but let's just say I would not recommend this ~adventure~. We spent the entire weekend laughing about it and referring to it as another Fyre Festival - it was absolutely hilarious in the moment, but I probably wouldn't do it again.
STAY
Campingplatz München with Stoke Travel
In theory, this is an awesome idea; it brings together study abroad kids from all over Europe, and they have a party outside in the woods each night with an open bar and music which makes for a fun way to meet people; that being said, it was really far from the city & the festival, and the sleeping arrangements weren't great, especially given that it was April in Germany (which meant it got really cold at night still)
There were 4 of us, so we opted for two double tents when making our reservation; Stoke Travel provided us each with a sleeping mat & a sleeping bag (no, I didn't forget to mention a pillow)
The first night, both zippers to close my tent and the zipper for my sleeping bag broke, so each time I wanted to change my sleeping position, I had to retuck the sleeping bag around me to trap my body heat; also had all of the clothes I wasn't wearing balled up for a pillow - couldn't help but laugh, was definitely an interesting night
Getting to and from the festival required a bus & a metro ride, but the included breakfast when we woke up was really nice
In case I somehow sold you, here is the link
EATS
KFC - Feel like this is a good spot to mention how much better European KFC is than American KFC - it's one of the US fast-food chains that you can find everywhere; we arrived at the campsite 30 minutes after the Stoke Travel dinner shut down, & one of the managers directed us towards a KFC that was a 30-minute walk away, which happened to be the closest food option that was still open; we wandered through the countryside of Germany until the KFC appeared, and we were rewarded with a free bucket of chicken as they were closing so that was a plus !
Augustiner-Keller Biergarten - Came here for food after leaving Springfest; had really yummy sausages
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL:
Definitely a lot smaller than Oktoberfest, but still so fun and worth going to!
There are 2 beer halls on the grounds: the Hippodrome & the Theresienwiese tents; we spent our entire day in the Theresienwiese one - it's a big blue and white striped tent, & it's apparently the oldest & most authentic tent
Go early - You have to be at a table in order to be served food & drinks, so go early to ensure you're able to get one; one benefit of the camping is that we had negative incentives to sleep in, so we went and got the table for all the BC kids that came to Munich for the weekend
Bring cash - They only accept cash payments for food & drinks in the tents, and the ATM fees are massive since they bank on a lot of people forgetting to withdraw cash ahead of time
You cannot leave the tent & come back, since once it gets to mid/late afternoon, the line to get back into the tent is so long; there is a bathroom in the tent, but if you want to go on rides/get food from other festival stands, plan on not being able to do so until you're on your way out
Everyone wears the iconic outfits, so it's definitely worth the investment to get one; makes for fun pictures too
SNAPS:
Top Left: The Hippodrome tent | Top Right & Bottom Row: Inside the Theresienwiese tent
I literally laughed out loud when I first saw the tents - absolutely iconic .
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