Beer drinkers will consume 58.1 million euros

With the traditional tapping of the keg, Munich’s mayor Christian Ude opened the world’s largest folk festival, the 175th Oktoberfest, in Munich on Saturday at noon.

"O´zapft is (The keg is tapped)," Ude shouted to the enthusiastic crowd gathered in one of the 14 large tents at Theresienwiese in central Munich to witness the traditional tapping of the first beer keg of Oktoberfest. Ude needed only two strikes with a wooden mallet to drive the brass tap into the wooden barrel, which is considered a good sign for this year’s Oktoberfest. After that, 12 cannon shots were heard from mortars, signaling the innkeepers in the Oktoberfest meadow that they could start pouring beer. The first two "Massa" (one-liter mugs) were consumed by Ude and Bavarian Prime Minister Guenter Beckstein. They were the first of about six million guests expected from around the world by October 5, when Oktoberfest closes its doors."This is the most beautiful and largest celebration in the world," Beckstein stated after the first sips of this year’s Oktoberfest beer. The traditional one-liter mug has also increased in price this year, costing between 7.80 and 8.30 euros, which is on average 40 cents more expensive than last year. This guarantees good profits for the Oktoberfest innkeepers, as visitors consumed more than seven million liters of beer last year. Despite the price increases, it is expected that this year 58.1 million euros will be consumed. A representative of the breweries justified the high beer prices by the high rental costs of the tents, which this year exceeded two million euros. At Oktoberfest, in addition to millions of liters of beer, over half a million roasted chickens, over 100 roasted oxen, 150,000 sausages, and countless pretzels and other traditional Bavarian pastries will be consumed. To ensure that all these quantities of food and drink reach the hungry and thirsty, over 1,800 waitresses and waiters will work, who, depending on their skill and speed, can earn up to 10,000 euros for two weeks of hard work at Oktoberfest.

Traditional Munich breweries brew beer specifically for Oktoberfest with a higher alcohol content than usual. However, this did not prevent Bavarian Prime Minister Beckstein from stating a few days ago that one can still drive after two "Mass" beers, a statement for which he later received a wave of criticism from both police unions and alcohol prevention organizations. Beer celebrations under the common name Oktoberfest were originally practiced throughout Bavaria to consume the stocks of so-called Märzen (March) beer before the new season.

The first Munich Oktoberfest was held on October 17, 1810, in honor of the wedding of Bavarian Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese, after whom the meadow, which was then located outside the city walls, was named. Since Prince Ludwig was a great admirer of ancient Greece, the first Oktoberfest was held in the spirit of the ancient Olympic Games and was primarily of a sporting character, which changed in the coming decades into a purely folk celebration, with horse races being retained until 1938. This year’s Oktoberfest could also take place under the sign of elections for the Bavarian parliament, which are held next Sunday.

The traditionally strongest political party in Bavaria, the Christian Social Union (CSU), faces the threat of losing its absolute majority, so this year’s Oktoberfest could turn into a celebration of the opposition in its second half, which, except in Munich where social democrats have been in power for decades, has so far operated on the fringes of the political spectrum in the rest of Bavaria. The opposition’s cause was also aided by the wife of Bavarian Prime Minister Beckstein, Marga, who, contrary to tradition, refused to wear a southern German dress (dirndl) for today’s visit to Oktoberfest, which many CSU voters loyal to tradition took as a bad omen. (Hina)