At the world's largest beer festival, women are taking on traditional men's roles. What challenges do they face?
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00:00Munich's Oktoberfest, the world's largest beer festival, has long been a male domain,
00:06but today women are seen in jobs traditionally held by men, as festival hostesses or rickshaw
00:12cyclists.
00:13Is it equality in practice, or not such a great idea?
00:18Flashback to opening day.
00:20Silja Steinberg is the hostess of one of the biggest Oktoberfest tents, and she's running
00:24late.
00:27She arrives with the other hosts at the fairgrounds in a horse-drawn carriage.
00:31The tent managers number among the festival's highest-ranking business people.
00:35For years, they were exclusively men.
00:41Thirty years ago, nobody could have imagined having festival hostesses, but that's changed
00:45now.
00:48They made it at the last minute.
00:50Some 10,000 people are already in the tent, waiting.
00:56Welcome to the 2024 fairgrounds and the magnificent Hofbräu tent.
01:07Only a couple of this year's 14 large tents are run by women.
01:14It's a whole different world from a normal pub that you run 365 days a year.
01:19Here it's in full swing right from the starting shot, and you never have a lull, at least
01:25not as far as the stress level goes.
01:30Over six million people come every year to party.
01:34Bavarian gender clichés like the women's Dirndl and men's lederhosen are a huge part
01:38of it, as are the flirting, alcohol, and even harassment.
01:42But sometimes it goes too far.
01:47When you run around here, it's like open season, you really have to be careful.
01:52Quite often you'll find a hand on your rear end.
01:56Alcohol and men always give the same result.
01:59It's a tough environment for the women who work here.
02:01Outside the fairgrounds, Rikscha Rosie gets ready.
02:04An estimated 200 bicycle taxis are on the streets of Munich during the festival, some
02:09of them peddled by women.
02:16You've got to deal with these wasted and sometimes unpleasant people, and make an effort to
02:21keep nice and cool and get through it somehow.
02:25That's always quite a challenge.
02:29Rikscha Rosie is independent.
02:30She owns her bicycle rickshaw.
02:33Right, off we go.
02:36Even before she sets out, it's obvious this won't be an easy run.
02:40You have really great legs.
02:43Careful, leg up.
02:45Hey, not pants down, leg up.
02:50Getting these passengers under control isn't easy.
02:56Now he's getting out.
02:57I've got a great customer.
03:00Will you be good?
03:01Do you want to keep going?
03:03Then you have to get back in.
03:08There at last.
03:13You take care, you rascal.
03:18Is that normal, what just happened?
03:20At this time of night, yes, that can happen.
03:25Back in the Hofbrau tent, just before closing, the party gets going.
03:30Sometimes being a woman has its upsides here.
03:32At least Silje Steinberg thinks so.
03:36In a way, it's sweet when I come in and my security people say, oh, the hostess, and
03:41they lift me up or something.
03:43They probably wouldn't do that with a man.
03:45It's kind of sweet the way they treat you and appreciate you as a woman.
03:49As hostess to the patrons in her tent, she hasn't experienced the aggressive behavior
03:53some Oktoberfest guests have.
04:03This is my job, as if it were made just for me.
04:06I love to be with the patrons, with the co-workers, and I love the organizing.
04:11And you're making people happy.
04:12You sense that, and it's great.
04:16Also great are the millions of euros in revenue the crowds bring in.
04:19And Rickshaw Rosie is also building up a financial cushion for the winter months.
04:27I'm a night person, to be honest.
04:30So it doesn't bother me that much to be out and about at night.
04:35And you see some weird things at night.
04:41The happy patrons, the revenues, the adrenaline.
04:43All these upsides balance out the negatives for most women at Oktoberfest.