The 100 Club at Oktoberfest

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Do you want to be horrified? Do you want to be disgusted? Do you want to be ashamed? Well probably not but you will be if you ever find yourself attending the '100 Club', a yearly gathering in Munich right before Oktoberfest.

The 100 Club young Australian and New Zealand travellers at their very worst and most disgusting. It is tradition for young Aussies and Kiwis to travel around Europe for a summer in a campervan, visiting all the main stops and major festivals, taking in a few of the sites but mostly concentrating on getting completely wasted the entire way around the continent. Van tour Europe usually takes about four months, it starts in Pamplona for the Running of the Bulls and ends in Munich for the beer-swigging festival, Oktoberfest.

This is where things get messy. After travelling around Europe for four months, often in convoy with other crazy party vans, the Oktoberfest portion is like a big reunion and ending party all rolled up into one. All of the vans meet in a park that has been set aside for them and they get the party started in advance by participating in the 100 Club.

So what is it? The 100 Club is a drinking game requiring participants to drink a shot glass full of beer every minute for 100 minutes. To make things really difficult, participants aren't allowed to go to the toilet. There are other rules in place forbidding them to touch their face, forcing them to drink with their left hand only, and, above all, no puking.

Participants form a huge circle with usually more than 100 people choosing to participate, almost always all guys. Judges walk around in the middle of the group enforcing the rules and the master of ceremonies sounds a horn each time it's time to take a shot of beer while hundreds of spectators look on, thanking the lord that they didn't choose to participate.

The judges aren't your typical judges. They are usually dressed in some crazy costumes and when a participant defaults one of the rules, they spring to action and force them to take a penalty drink before they're allowed to quit the competition. This usually involves a beer bong filled with beer and various other dubious contents. As the 100 minutes wear on, people end up puking and things get really messy. It truly is excess at its very worst and these young Aussies and Kiwis do it well.

If you find yourself at Oktoberfest and want a glimpse of a somewhat scary subculture, ask around for the location of the '100 Club' and prepare to be horrified! It is definitely not for the feint of heart.