Biggest isn’t always best!

Full disclosure: I’ve never been to the Munich Oktoberfest.

I’ve always wanted to but I’m not sure I could cope with the attack on my senses at such a huge festival.

Thankfully there are other options and a couple of weeks ago I headed off to the small town of Erding in Bavaria. A little under 30m from the centre of Munich, this is the home of ERDINGER Weissbräu – Germany’s largest family-owned wheat beer brewery. Every year they host an Autumn Festival (Herbstfest), a traditional celebration which is described as “hearty fun, the best atmosphere and pure Bavarian joie de vivre.”

And they’re not wrong.

It had everything that I was looking for – the traditional fun fair and side show amusements, huge marquees with hundreds of people enjoying themselves, local musicians who led everyone singing along with some absolute bangers, a heap of amazing traditional food and, of course, a fantastic choice of wonderful beers. I tried a special ERDINGER festival wheat beer, ERDINGER Dunkel and Leicht and a selection of ERDINGER Alkoholfrei choices. I also discovered Russ – a wheat beer equivalent of the Radler lager/lemonade mix – which was delicious and refreshing, and very welcome in the heat of the marquee.

One thing shone through that made me feel comfortable and at home, though. The people, and their passion for what they were doing. I’ve worked with various members of the ERDINGER team over the last few years and I already knew how hard they work and how much they love what they are doing. But Herbstfest really brought it home. They love the beer, the brand, the culture, the teamwork, their customers – and the festival was the physical manifestation of bringing everything, and everyone, together. The regular ERDINGER team was obviously expanded to include the hundreds of extra staff required to make Herbstfest a success and every one of them seemed to be enjoying every second of what they were doing.

You might say that it’s easy to be passionate about working in an environment where people want to enjoy themselves and working in beer or the wider drinks industry does have (ahem) certain benefits. But, whatever you do, approaching your working day with a positive attitude, striving to do the best you can and providing exemplary service or support isn’t a bad attitude to have. And it’s surprising how much you can get out of any situation, and how well others will respond to you if that’s your approach. The teamwork at ERDINGER’s Herbstfest was outstanding and I loved every second of my visit. I think that the main Oktoberfest down the road in Munich probably has to be seen to be believed and it does look epic from the publicity. But Herbstfest was much more my style and proved that you don’t have to choose the biggest version of an experience to enjoy yourself. I didn’t feel lost, overwhelmed, intimidated or swamped. Instead, I enjoyed the moment in a safe and sensational atmosphere and celebrated the pride and passion it was obvious everyone around me had for the Bavarian beer and lifestyle.

So, this Autumn, have fun Oktoberfest but I won’t be joining you. Thank you ERDINGER Herbstfest – I’ll be back.