The Beer Tents: Hacker-Festzelt
The Hacker tent has been a regular at Oktoberfest since 1907. Naturally, they serve Hacker-Pschorr beer here. The mood is boisterous, people stand up on benches, there is a high flirtation factor and you can really let yourself go. The Hacker tent has a genuine atmosphere and it fills up quickly.
Quick Facts:
Seats: 9,300
Mood: Party
Family Friendly: Only in the beer garden or in early morning.
Flirtation Factor: Extreme
Beer: Hacker-Pschorr
Host: Toni Roiderer
Reservations: www.hacker-festzelt.de
Tent Life
The tent ceiling as seen from inside the tent is commonly called ‘the heavens,’ and is particularly beautiful. It’s white and blue and is decorated with clouds and stars, like the Bavarian flag. The back of the ceiling can be opened in nice weather so visitors can experience the true Bavarian heavens. It is particularly romantic in the last night of Oktoberfest, especially during the grand finale when countless sparklers twinkle among the crowd under the Bavarian Heavens while the band sings ‘Sierra Madre,’ and everyone holds each other and comforts each other over the fact that Oktoberfest is finished.
The Hacker tent is also referred to as “Heaven of Bavaria” thanks to its beautiful interior
If you don’t find yourself inside one, you can look at the various theme boxes. They’re called Karl Valentin, Liesl Karlstadt, Karussell Wirthaus, and Biergarten.
The Hacker tent servers are lively and cheerful but are not always free to chat because of their large workloads. But that’s ok, because in exchange for that, your beer comes fast when you order.
There’s a secret magic that happens inside this tent which is a result of a combination of the decorations, the good mood, music, decorations, beer, ceiling design, wonderful servers and extremely friendly host. All this ensures hearts inside the tent beat particularly hard!
Music
The Schäffler folk dancers sit upon the music pavilion with their big wreaths and dance for 16 days for the excited dancing crowd. The band is perched on a rotating platform so that the guests can see them from a good angle without having to get up and the band can see the guests without moving. Between 7pm and 10.45pm, there’s no break in the music, so enjoy! For years, that’s been when the cult Munich band Cagey Strings really get the audience pumped up. Apart from the Wiesn hits, they play music that seems strange for Oktoberfest, from indie rock to AC/DC to old skool rock n’ roll.
Food and Drink
Naturally, good Hacker-Pschorr is available on tap, together with non-alcoholic drinks. But the food from the Hacker kitchen is AMAZING. The host Toni Roiderer has a scrumptious selection of specialties including:
- Beef
- Suckling pig
- Various wurst
- Finely spiced roast chicken
- Plus the fresh tartare dip is to die for
Beer Garden
The Hacker beer garden includes around 2,400 seats and is a great place for meetings and social gatherings in both good and bad weather. The layout is very good and the place is in high spirits. As mentioned before, the servers are very fast and friendly, so leaving a decent tip is advised.
Find out more about all the beer tents of Oktoberfest in Munich here.
