Beer we go: Munich expects 6 million visits at this year’s Oktoberfest

Germany’s world-famous Oktoberfest kicked off Saturday with the traditional tapping of the first barrel of beer, as millions of revellers readied to soak up the frothy atmosphere in the 16-day annual extravaganza. With the cry of “O’zapft is” (“The keg is tapped”), the amber fluid officially began to flow at noon after Munich’s mayor, Dieter Reiter took a mallet and in four swings breached the 200-litre barrel. The first litre-size mug, the “Mass”, went to the head of the Bavaria regional government, Horst Seehofer. Fourteen giant tents set up in the centre of Munich filled up quickly with people eager to imbibe after watching the parade of the brewers through the city streets in rainy weather.

Oktoberfest is very famous, everyone in the world knows about it. We wanted to see it and now I can tell my friends I’ve been too.

Moran Chen, 26, originally from Hong Kong but now living in Berlin

At the festival site on the Wiesn fairgrounds thousands of serving staff carry millions of “Mass” glasses of beer from one of six historic Munich breweries, to punters seated at long tables in the tents. Last year more than six million visitors drank 6.7 million litre-sized mugs of beer – more than twice the volume of an Olympic swimming pool – during the whole festival run. The price of the beer always touches off a debate and in some tents this year was to creep over the 10-euro mark for the first time – to 10.10 euros ($13), according to officials. It all helps wash down the salty giant soft pretzels, dumplings, pork and grilled sausages that provide the customary hearty accompaniment.

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