It seems that German cities have festivals for everything. In Stuttgart, sauerkraut is being celebrated at the end of October, once the fairground and beer tents have been cleared away from the Cannstatter Volksfest ("the people's festival", originally a celebration of bringing in the harvest). In September they were praising the wine.

The entire purpose of my trip to Stuttgart was to visit the Volksfest with my family. Having lived in Stuttgart for two years, and knowling the city intimately, they said that the best time for me to visit was during this 3-weekend period (from the last weekend of September to the 2nd weekend of October) when an enormous tarmac space by the Canstatter park is taken over by one of the biggest mobile fairgrounds in Europe and beer tents big enough to seat 5,500 people (each).

Many of the large German and local breweries organise their own tents, within which long trestle tables and benches create the atmosphere of a stereotypical German beer kellar. The local Dinkelacker brewery was our main focus for the weekend, where we followed advice to book a table in advance for the Saturday night. With 8 people booking, it is possible to reserve a table by paying €26, for which a table was guaranteed and we were given tokens equivalent to half a roast chicken and 3 litres of specially brewed Volksfest lager at 5.4% alcohol. Non-alcoholic versions are available, as are soft drinks - but the price is standard across all kinds of liquid. If you don't book in advance, you may be subjected to long queues as darkness descends - so you may be better going early and getting your hand stamped to allow you back in again later without queuing.

Each table is served by a dedicated waiter (if indeed you can call a person in lederhosen a waiter), and we were served by Chris. The tokens were, however, slightly misleading. When we received our first litre, Chris said that the tokens were not enough for the beer. When we queried this he explained that there is a compulsory tip of 55 euro cents on top of the price of the beer. While this is easy to sort out, it was slightly embarrassing to need to be told it by the waiter - especially as we would have tipped him anyway. It's not often you see someone carrying 10 steins (a total of 20litres of beer) in one go! If you don't book (or you have spent all your tokens) you may opt to pay for each drink with cash - each 2-litre stein is a flat fee of €7.20, plus tip.

In the centre of the tent was an enormous stage that hosted a range of musical acts, but for much of the time we were treated to "The Batchelors" (which curiously comprised of some married couples), who played addictive German oompah drinking songs from when we arrived at 4pm until we left at 11pm.

Other tents are similar in their entertainment and layout, although some of them place a larger focus on the entertainment and some others focus most on the food. I personally felt that the Dickelacker tent had the balance about right.

The tents, though, are only part of the experience. While there is little doubt that most people go along to the Volksfest for the beer and singing, the enormous fairground is also a huge attraction. Covering over a square mile of land, the fairground features two ferris wheels (one of which is the largest mobile ferris wheel in Europe) and even a full-size (but still mobile!) rollercoaster.

Most rides were between €2 to €3, depending on the style of ride. I personally found that those rides in which you have a higher chance of being bruised by being thrown all over the place cost slightly more but are considerably more fun! There was also a Wall Of Death (where people ride motorbikes and even cars around the inside wall of what is effectively a large barrel) - an attraction now sadly missing from most British fairgrounds. This cost €4 for an adult to watch the 15 minute show.

We flew out to Stuttgart with British Airways from Heathrow, and found the flight quick and simple. The ongoing dispute with Gate Gourmet who provide British Airways' food meant that there were no snacks on board the plane, but we were given a voucher to spend at the airport restaurants instead.