100 Club at Beerfest in Munich
If you have ever spent any time living with Australians or Kiwis in London, you are bound to have heard of the disgusting, feral, appalling but legendary Hundred Club (100 Club). It takes place at a free campsite in a Munich park every year on the Friday before Oktoberfest kicks off. I had always heard rumblings about this event but never believed it actually existed and wanted to see it with my own eyes to prove all the rumours were true.

Van Tour consists of mainly Aussies and Kiwis who have bought vans in London and plan to weave their way through Europe, meeting up randomly along the way and on purpose at the major festivals. It starts in Pamplona at the Running of the Bulls in July and finishes at Oktoberfest (Beerfest) in Munich in September. In between, participants party their way around Europe, drink loads, and basically have a crazy time while cramming in the occasional sight between drinking binges and hangovers. All of this training is put to good use when the vans meet up at a free camp and kick off Beerfest in fine, feral fashion with the 100 Club.

If you’ve heard of the centurion drinking game where participants attempt to down 100 shots of beer in a hundred minutes then you’re halfway to understanding the 100 Club. But there’s more to it than that! Throw in a few evil judges, hundreds of spectators, pissing, puking, nakedness and some beer bongs packed with things like tuna, olives, vodka, and raw eggs and you’ve got the 100 Club!

We found out where the camp was by word of mouth and headed out of central Munich just a few stops to a local park. We had to ditch out beers outside as no glass bottles are allowed. I think we were supposed to pay 2 euros to enter but we just kind of wandered by without noticing. There was a van in one corner selling beer in tins and small kegs so we loaded up and went off to investigate.

After a bit of time attempting to get closer to the action I finally busted my way up to the front row to find about 40 guys and two brave girls witting in lawn chairs in a massive circle. The huge crowd were gathered all around them and the judges were in the centre, already smashed and dressed in their 100 Club garbs.

They were asking the crown to head to their vans and get as many foul food products as they could to add as ingredients to the beer bongs. Eventually tins of peaches, beans, tuna and meatballs arrived along with eggs, bottles of spirits, Vegemite (gross at the best of times!), pickled onions, flour, chilli powder, and various things that I had never seen before. Someone generously brought up a muddy gumboot to be used as a drinking vessel.

With all the ingredients in place, it was time for the rules to be read out by the timekeeper. Among them were no peeing, no puking, no wearing undies, no drinking with your left hand, no touching your face, and no back chat! If you were found doing any of these things the judges would wreak havoc on you through one of their beer bong creations. But even if you did manage to follow all the rules, you could still be chosen to receive a beer bong, so nobody was immune from their wrath!

After just a few shots of beer a couple of beer bongs were administered and people were puking all over the place. As things carried on, a few more people dropped out and things kicked up a notch and started to get really gross. One total wanker started spewing in the beer bong and got members of the crowd to spit in it and forced it down the throat of some poor soul sitting in front of me.

The muddy gumboot was getting a great workout and undies were being forcefully ripped off all around me. A naked guy somehow found his way into the centre of the circle for a beer bong, and one of the girls had to bow out after a mighty spew. Concoctions were also being made at the table for participants to eat and eggs were being cracked into their beers randomly.

I can honestly say that it was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen and I can’t fully put it into words. I am embarrassed to admit, however, that I was strangely entertained by the antics of these van tour animals and would say, if you’re a bit of a party animal and have a strong stomach, go check it out.

Apparently at the end of 100 shots the remaining participants can do whatever they want to the judges and things get very bad and lots of bodily functions are used. I am happy to say I missed this part, but they deserved everything they got!

By: Kirsty
September 16th, 2005