I'm an American who went to Oktoberfest for the first time. Here are 5 things that surprised me most about the German festival.

As a beer aficionado, I've been to my fair share of brew festivals throughout the US, several of which were "Oktoberfest" themed.

So, when I booked a trip to visit Oktoberfest in Munich a few years ago, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. However, after just a few steps into the roughly 100-acre festival, I realized just how special it really is.

Oktoberfest was first held in 1810 to celebrate the marriage of Louis I (the crown prince of Bavaria) and Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen, and is now celebrated every year in September and October.

Today, people from around the world travel to the festival to celebrate German culture and, of course, beer. In fact, last year's festival approximately 6.5 million people.

Here are the five things that surprised me most when I attended Oktoberfest for the first time.

Nearly everyone at Oktoberfest dresses the part — wearing traditional Bavarian lederhosen outfits for men and dirndls for women.

My husband was sporting the lederhosen we'd always seen with leather suspenders. However, we quickly noticed that many of the men were wearing vests with their leather shorts instead.

A friendly German local later told us that while suspenders are fine to wear, they tend to signal that you're not local.

When I hear the word "tent," I tend to think of the big tops at the circus. However, the ones I saw at Oktoberfest put those to shame.

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In reality, the huge tents at the festival are temporary wooden structures, some of which have two floors.

In total, there are 17 "large" tents and 21 "small" ones throughout the festival, each with its own unique theme. Each tent also serves the beer of the affiliated brewery.