When Sweet Caroline comes on at Oktoberfest, expect the people around you to all reach toward the middle of the table and give spirit fingers right before the chorus. In 2009, DJ Ötzi released a remix to Sweet Caroline that was very popular in Germany and Austria which helped to reboot the song at Oktoberfest.

Even if you don’t like the song, there is something energetic about it at Oktoberfest as the music really is the universal language. The chorus of this American classic is known by pretty much every person in the beer tents, no matter what country they are from. You can’t go wrong with Neil Diamond’s mega-hit about a young Caroline Kennedy riding a bike. Joining along with Ein Prosit is really a ton of fun, it helps you stay engaged with your neighbors, and it keeps you drinking! As an example, the Hofbrau Beer Tent now sells over 750,000 liters a beer during the festival each year. It is said that the beer tents at Oktoberfest started playing this song four-times-an-hour to get people to take more drinks so they could sell more beer, and it sure has paid off. Some tents like the Schützen Feszelt also add their flair to Ein Prosit with a unique call to action before the song starts and an extra festive chant added to the end. Ein Prosit ends with the band asking if you are having fun with either “Zicke Zacke Zicke Zacke?” or “Ticky Tocky Ticky Tocky?” and you respond “Oi Oi Oi” meaning yes we are. The song Ein Prosit continues with an “Eins, Zwei, Drei ( einz, sfeye, dry)” or 1, 2, 3 countdown to “G’suffa ( zuffa)” which means take a big drink.

The entire crowd joins in singing with the band which helps the excitement build. This iconic song starts with the band repeating the words “Ein Prosit ( Eyn Pro-zit) Der Gemütlichkeit ( Dare Ga-mute-lic-kite)” meaning I Salute To Our Cozy Friendship & Good Times We’re Having Together. I Salute You ( Ein Prosit): Ein Prosit is THE song of Oktoberfest as it is played like clockwork in the beer tents every 15 minutes. That being said, even the daytime music from the brass bands and chants from the crowd quickly turn the tents into a festive party in no time.ġ. As the day goes on they even add guitars to the band turning the excitement even higher.īecause Oktoberfest is family friendly for most of the day, the bands stick to using traditional brass instruments and don’t use elements like electric guitars until evening time starting at 6pm. Expect to hear tons of American oldies, German hits, and everything from John Devner to ACDC. You are going to be shocked when you realize how many modern songs the Brass Bands do covers of. If you are from the United States, Oompah music will sound just like Polka to you as American Polka has more of a German influence than Polka from Europe does. Traditional Polka comes from Czech and Poland and relies more on the accordion while German Oompah has more of a brass band ( Blaskapelle) feel. Germans will tell you NO as the music is German Oompah and definitely not Polka.

Lets go fly a kite lyrics