Munich's Oktoberfest opens with 6 million visitors predicted

Sep 19, 2009, 12:00 GMT

   Munich - Oktoberfest, the festival of beer-drinking and funfair rides, opened Saturday in Munich with 6 million guests from round the globe expected over the next 16 days.

A throaty cheer went up from the onlookers as Christian Ude, mayor of Munich, hammered a spigot into the first barrel of beer at noon, and filled a mug for Bavaria state's premier, Horst Seehofer.

Thanks to years of practice, Ude, dressed in a cellar-keeper's leather apron, managed to get the tap in with just two mighty whacks from his mallet.

Last year, 6.6 million one-litre mugs of Bavarian beer were sold in the tents.

The event, which runs till October 4, attracts large numbers of Germans and Italians, and vast parties of young tourists from other continents eager to sample the rollicking fun.

Security was heightened in Germany Saturday because Islamist terrorists have threatened on the internet to attack Germany, but Joachim Hermann, interior minister of Bavaria, said there was no specific threat to the fest.

The celebrations were also overshadowed by a murder at a suburban Munich train station. Two males, 17 and 18, are being held for the murder of Dominik Brunner, a 50-year-old executive, after he had tried to stop the youths robbing a group of children.

That September 12 attack was an echo of an earlier attack in December 2007 on a 76-year-old pensioner in a Munich suburban train. Both crimes prompted national debate about getting tough with juvenile delinquents.

But for most out-of-town visitors, the chief problem is likely to be finding a bed to sleep in. Room rates in Munich soar during the fest and hotel vacancies are hard to find.

Oktoberfest is one year shy of the 200th anniversary of its 1810 foundation as a street party and horse race to celebrate a princely wedding. An extra-special version of the fest is planned in 2010.