Roast pork and a big beer - what more could you wish for at the Oktoberfest? But watch out: Calories are hiding in thousands in those specialties. Some even more well hidden than the rest.
Of course, the most popular drink at the Oktoberfest is the Munich beer. But it comes with a price. No, not the almost 10€ you pay for a Mass; the up to 500 kcal in it.
As a comparison: The very popular Viennese escalope with the crunchy breading only contains 400 kcal. Non-alcoholic drinks are a bit less drastic: Lemonade bring approximately 200 kcal to the table, the also very popular apple spritzer (apple juice with water) another 25% less.
The food might make want to you loosen your belt for quite some time, too: Half a roast chicken has 700-800 kcal, also because of the crispy skin.
A 200 gram serving of roast pork with gravy weighs in at 600-700 kcal - without the dumplings. Those add another 100 kcal (potato dumplings) or even 200 kcal, if it's a bread dumpling.
Even less a surprise are the numbers, when it comes to sweets: Kaiserschmarrn (a cut up pancake with extra sugar and raisins) or yeast dumplings with vanilla sauce are loaded with 800-900 kcal.
And if you think, the classic big pretzel might be a better idea in order to stay slim - think again: One of those are hiding 800kcal or more in them.
But there is hope: If you want a traditional Bavarian snack at the Oktoberfest without having to buy new pants the day after your visit, you can always fall back on two of the most popular vegetables in Bavaria: Radish and horseradish, well salted, are a very popular specialty at the Oktoberfest and have only 30-35kcals in them.
And if you desperatly need something sweet, give the frosted apples a chance.
Of course, the frosting doesn't make them a nutritionist's best friend, but they do actually only have about 150 kcal - and that's just a quarter of 100 grams of the inevitable candied almonds.
What's new at the Oktoberfest 2012?The Oktoberfest has a new supervisor: For the first time, Dieter Reiter, head of the Munich economy division, is responsible for everything connected to the organization of the Oktoberfest. He follows Gabi Weishäupl, who defined an era as head of the Oktoberfest.
The Oktoberfest will be smaller than it was last year, as the southern part of the Theresienwiese-fairground is needed for the Zentral-Landwirtschaftsfest, an agricultural fair event with a long tradition, from September 22nd to 30th. This leaves only 26 hectares for the Oktoberfest – still more than enough to amaze visitors from near and far!
Novelties at the 2012 OktoberfestOktoberfest macht Schule – The Oktoberfest School
The „Hits for Kids" campaign, which offers services and information for families and children, will invite young Oktoberfest visitors to take part in a science-game, meant to give children the possibility to learn more about the more than two centuries of Oktoberfest-history.
Shocker – Seven new scary rooms wait for you!
If you ever wanted to experience an exorcism or visit a haunted bathroom, Edmund Heckl's Shocker is the right place to go. Seven new rooms wait for courageous visitors – if you dare…
DECAP – A musical blast from the past
A beautiful, exotic instrument from the 1950s can be found at the Family Square: A DECAP orchestrion, a complex and fun music-machine. The musical masterpiece has a repertoire of 500 songs!
No more glass bottles!
Because of numerous injuries from scrapes to deep cuts from broken glass, no more glass-bottles are allowed at the Oktoberfest any more.
Hacker-Tent with new beer pipeline
Like the Bräurosl and the Winzerer Fähndl before, the Hacker-Tent will be equipped with a centralized beer-supply by a ring-pipeline.
Important dates for the Oktoberfest 2012
www.oktoberfest.de/en 
