Just returned from a long weekend in Blumenau to party at Oktoberfest. Blumenau is located in the state of Santa Catarina, in the south of Brazil. Initially I thought I would have a chance to monger, but I ended up with a travel companion who made that not possible. However, I must say I was impressed with the Oktoberfest party in Blumenau - it is huge...actually the largest in the America's. It is held inside Vila Germanica. Saturday, especially, it was PACKED! Lots and lots of beautiful girls....great music, fun, and of course beer...

There are three huge halls in which the event is held, all together it basically is the size of 4 Rio De Janeiro Samba school halls put together. Maybe bigger.

To get there, I flew Azul (From the same guy that started up Jetblue in the US) from Rio...the cost was about R$480 R/T (booked a couple of months in advance). Good airline...

The Hotel I stayed in was the Hotel Plaza, also a very nice hotel...

Hotels for this event book up completely, so it is best to plan this way in advance - using Brazilian travel agents help since they often have blocks of rooms set aside (otherwise, booking from the hotel was impossible 3 months in advance).

In the end my three night beer drinking routine took me back to the hotel around 5:30am (they close at 5:00am), then of course sleeping until almost 3:00pm each day.

Certainly a blast!! In the end, with all the partying I did, the mongering would have been difficult to squeeze in anyway...

Was the Azul plane brand new?

Yes, brand new Embraer planes. Very nice planes...two seats on each side, so no middle seat. The Cabin crew was all young and friendly. Some gorgeous flight attendants. Azul also provides free bus transportation from the Navegantes airport to Blumenau...Navegantes (NVT) is the closest airport and about 60km away. They connect via Campinas, their hub city, which is a tiny airport outside Sao Paulo. Azul was very nice...certainly would fly them again. They give you a full can of soda, plus a couple of bags of full sized snacks on both connections - I got the bag of chocolate chip cookies and potato chips.

What a difference when it comes to a young flight crew & older ones found on the legacy carriers. While waiting on the ground, some guy wanted something to drink and the Azul flight attendant just smiled and got a drink - can you imagine asking this to an AA flight attendant? She would be barking, maybe even growling, at you to wait :-)

I believe that all of the Azul planes are brand new. I think that the Embraer CEO is one of the Azul partners also.

Just wish their hub wasn't so far out of town. It's a pretty long bus ride to SP from Campinas...not what I am looking for after flying.

Yeah, if you live in SP, Campinas is too much of a haul...flying from Rio through their hub via Campinas to another location in Brazil, however, actually seems to be a good thing. The airport is small with little air congestion hence I would think less delays with connections.

Oddly, you can fly Azul between Congonhas and Porto Seguro, but there are no other Azul flights in or out of Congonhas. Go figure.

I was tempted to go there. I had lots of doubts, maybe you can clarity. Then I can go next year.

What are the cost? hotel, entrance fees, drinks?

Do they have non-alcoholic beer? Anything to do for a non-alcohol drinker?

German Beer? their own Eisenbahn Beer?

Dancing and singing to Bavarian music? Lots of Germans? Fights? rowdy people? girls are 'easy" because they are drunk?

Any "cultural" events like concerts etc?

What time does it start and end? do they have food, chicken, ???

Diversions like merry go round, ferris wheel, etc? or just drinking and eating all night long?

I know the original octoberfest in munich. i was told by a German that the same bands come right from Munich to Blumenau, everything totally authentic.

And yes, i was in Blumenau and saw the halls, empty, off season.

Is the city totally packed and crowded, like HUGE crowds that totally overrun, pack and clog up the city? or just normal event that kind of fills up the city.

Here you go:

What are the cost?
1)Hotel - My hotel was R$210 a night
2)Entrance fees - R$15.00 a day. Free if you dress in traditional German clothes (applies to both men and women)
3)Drinks - R$4.25 for a Chopp, R$2.50 for water and soda

Do they have non-alcoholic beer? - Since I drink beer, did not notice if any non-alcoholic beer was available

Anything to do for a non-alcohol drinker? - They have the German Octoberfest parade in centro Blumenau, plus inside the halls there is plenty of music.

German Beer? their own Eisenbahn Beer? - The official beer of the event was Brahma (which is one of my favorite chopps), also available were a varity of other Brazilian beers with German names like Eisenbahn. I did not see any real German beer on sale...

Dancing and singing to Bavarian music? - Yes, lots of Bavarian music - also they play Pop, MPB, and Rock. One hall turns into a regular nightclub with house music as well...music pretty much for all tastes.

Lots of Germans? - Very few....95% Brazilians from other states, like Sao Paulo, Rio, etc.

Fights? rowdy people? - I did not see any fights in three nights...rowdy people yes, but a natural result of too much beer. Nothing that had me worried.

Girls are 'easy" because they are drunk? - Actually not so easy at all..harder then Rio. I am just persistent and will talk to 10+ girls until someone pays attention to me. Some of the real hot blonds get hit on by young Brazilian about every 5 meters, so they certainly build up a resistance.

Any "cultural" events like concerts etc? Just the parade in downtown, other then the Octoberfest itself there is not much else to do.

What time does it start and end? - Friday, it got going around 11pm. Saturday it was packed by 9:00pm, Sunday by 7p, or so... It closes always at 5:00am

do they have food, chicken??? They have food, sausages, chicken, etc.. However, mostly Brazilian style packaged with German names.

Diversions like merry go round, ferris wheel, etc? or just drinking and eating all night long? - Outside the hall, there is a tent with events, plus a merry go around and ferris wheel.

I know the original octoberfest in munich. i was told by a German that the same bands come right from Munich to Blumenau, everything totally authentic. - Yes, the bands were German...great music

Is the city totally packed and crowded, like HUGE crowds that totally overrun, pack and clog up the city? or just normal event that kind of fills up the city. - The city itself did not feel overrun at all. Only when the parade passed did it fill up in centro. Saturday was the craziest and most packed day at the halls...wall to wall people.

Not sure if a non-drinker would like it more then one night...

Thanks.

So absolutely no daytime action? just closed during the day? I sleep at night. German Octoberfest in full swing at least from noon on.

And no easy girls. Your hotel would cost how much during the rest of the year? half? or did the price almost stay the same?

Where did you fly to? Right into Blumenau??

During the day time it was pretty dead, with the exception of Sunday afternoon. If you sleep at night you will miss the best part. I only stayed three nights - all during Octoberfest, so the price each night was R#210 and did not flucate. I have no idea how much my hotel cost the rest of the year.

If you do not drink, nor stay up at night then probably this is not for you.

I flew into NVT, Navegantes...about 60km away from Blumenau. That appeared to be the best option.