Oktoberfest: "Gay Sunday"

On our last visit to Oktoberfest (2010), I chatted with a couple of locals who told me about "Gay Sunday". It sounded incredibly festive, but unfortunately our itinerary didn't allow for another raucous day out. But here's a reprint from a recent "Der Spiegel" article with pictures:

On the first Sunday of Munich's famous beer festival Oktoberfest, big crowds of gay and lesbian visitors gather to party together at the Bräurosl tent.


The tradition began back in the 1970s with a small group of men from a gay leather and fetish collective known as the Munich Lions Club.


Each year they met at the tent on the day now known as "Gay Sunday." This year revellers braved the rainy weather to form an early morning line around the tent. The event has become so popular that space is limited.


But once inside, guests enjoyed the festive atmosphere that has become popular not just among Munich's gay scene, but to visitors from around the world. "There's no aggression, there's a sense of togetherness and the mood is great from the beginning," one waitress said.


"The normalcy makes me very proud about the fact that not only can you be gay or lesbian in Bräurosl, but everywhere at the Oktoberfest," said Thomas Niederbühl of Rosa Liste München, or Pink List Munich, a gay rights party that sits on the city council. "It's a clear signal that, against all odds, so much has changed for Munich's gays and lesbians."


Despite the unwritten rule that Oktoberfest remain a politics-free zone, Munich's mayor Christian Ude comes to Bräurosl every year and conducts the band -- something Niederbühl calls a "strong political signal."


Many guests at the event dress in traditional Bavarian garb known as Tracht. Others, meanwhile, put a festive spin on the look like this man (above picture).