Oktoberfest in Munich started
The Oktoberfest traditionally starts with the mayor of Munich tapping the beer keg. Other tents will be informed by twelve shots so that they can serve beer to their customers. Even though the economic situation is not so good, all tents have been sold out a long time before the official beginning and have already been filled before beer was allowed to be served.
Image taken by StrudelMonkey
The Oktoberfest has a very long tradition for its beginning, e.g. there is a very decorated procession in the last hour before the beginning.
The Oktoberfest takes place for the 176th time this year. It is attended by 6 million people from all over the world each year, the same amount of beer is being drunk. Both people from America and people from Asia celebrate together on the Oktoberfest with fun rides, beer and pretzels (in German Brezeln).
Image taken by StrudelMonkey
I have visited the place of the so called Wiesn (the casual term for the Oktoberfest) one time, but it did not take place then. Yet, it is a very large area and the tents are not really tents like you know them from small festivals, but rather houses (they have wooden walls).
Image taken by digital cat
The typical German in the eyes of foreigners
The usual image on the Oktoberfest by the way also is the usualy prejudice about German people. People from abroad sometimes think that we all run around with Lederhosen and drink a lot of beer. However, this is - of course - not the case. Most people only wear Lederhosen when they go to the Oktoberfest and then put them away for one year.
Discussions about photography rights
The organizers of the Wiesn have put some restrictions on photographers. They are not allowed to take pictures of drunken or (partly) undressed people. News papers have protested that this was censorship to ensure only positive images from the festival. The organizers reply that they do not want photographers to publish images from people who cannot refuse it anymore (because of being drunken).
Interesting details about the Oktoberfest
There is not only beer served on the Oktoberfest, but also wine can be bought. This is due to the fact that the monks in Bavaria have grown a lot of wine in the past.
The organizers were afraid that the Oktoberfest would develop in a bad direction, so they have imposed a rule that tents are only allowed to play traditional music until 6p.m. This rule shall keep up the traditional feeling of the Wiesn. From 6p.m. on tents are allowed to play pop music.
The call for the opening of the Oktoberfest is "O’zapft is!". The mayor shouts it when he has tapped the keg.
There are bets on the number of hits the mayor needs until he has opened the keg. His record was two hits.
The Minister-President of Bavaria will be allowed to drink the first beer, at the moment this is Horst Seehofer.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Comments
We have something similar to the Oktoberfest in my town too. Of course, it's much smaller and there are not so many visitors. It's called "Bierfest" or "Dani piva". But, this year it was even smaller; the parade was cancelled and there were less tents, too. But, it's interesting that there were even more visitors than during the last few years! According to some statistics there were about 150 000 people.
Anyway those pretzels look really yummy :)
And the amusement park looks interesting I would like to go on that ride. XD
Add Comment