The 189th Oktoberfest beer festival started in Munich this Saturday. The mayor of the Bavarian capital, Dieter Reiter, hit the first barrel at noon, just like last year, two hits were enough for him. The beer festival will last until October 6 and will be visited by an estimated six million people from Germany and abroad, including the Czech Republic.
This year, Tuplák of golden liquid will be sold at a price of 13.60 to 15.30 euros (341 to 384 CZK), the price exceeded 15 euros for the first time this year. Due to the recent terrorist attacks in Solingen and Munich, there are tighter security measures at the entrances and inside the extensive area on the Terezian meadow.
“O’zapft is!” Reiter exclaimed. He announced that it was hit and that Oktoberfest had officially begun. According to tradition, he struck the pipe with a wooden stick in the giant festival tent of the Schottenhamel family. Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder traditionally received the first beer after the keg had been tapped, who then drank with Reiter to the happy and peaceful course of the festival.
The area where Oktoberfest takes place is 34.5 hectares. In addition to the beer tents, the largest of which has an internal capacity of approximately 6,000 guests, there are various food stalls and fairground attractions. Queues formed at the entrances from early in the morning, but the innkeepers did not tap beer for anyone until the first keg was tapped in the tent of the Schottenhamel family. Now it is starting to flow, last year 6.5 million people drank it. Ointment corresponds to about a liter. While last year the most expensive tuplák cost 14.90 euros, this year it is 15.30 euros. But even soft drinks are not cheap. The average price of a liter of mineral water is 10.48 euros (267 CZK), a liter of lemonade is 11.67 euros (293 CZK). Unlike drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana is expressly prohibited throughout the campus. The Bavarian government banned it at public festivals shortly after this year’s partial legalization of marijuana in Germany.
Oktoberfest also inherently includes the so-called dirndl, i.e. Bavarian women’s clothing inspired by the costume, and leather pants for men. Although it refers to traditional peasant dress, the dirndl is subject to fashion trends. This year’s colors are purple, mint and sage, royal blue and deep red. According to Axel Munz, head of the Angermaier dirndl store chain, you can’t go wrong even when choosing a black costume, which he says is timeless.
Before the start of Oktoberfest, Bavaria announced that it will tighten security measures even more this year. It reacted in this way to the August terrorist attack in Solingen, where an unsuccessful asylum seeker from Syria murdered three people and injured eight others at the city’s festivities, and also to the September terrorist attack directly in Munich, where the Israeli Consulate General and the Documentary the center of the history of Nazism.
About 600 police officers and 2,000 personnel from security agencies will oversee the safety of visitors. For the first time, visitors must prepare for random entrance checks and possible searches with a metal detector. It is forbidden to bring large luggage, knives and glass bottles into the premises. According to Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann, there is no specific danger to visitors, but in general, according to him, the risk of Islamist terrorism is high.
The beginning of the festival dates back to October 1810, when, after their wedding, Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig and his wife Teresa of Saxony-Hildburghausen organized a horse-racing event for the inhabitants of the kingdom on a meadow outside Munich. The event was a success and began to be held regularly as the October Festival. It kept its name even after the organizers moved its start to September due to warmer weather. The bet on an earlier start of the festival has paid off for the organizers this year as well, in Munich the sun will shine all weekend and temperatures will reach twenty degrees.
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