Oktoberfest fun facts
The Oktoberfest in Munich (or Wiesn, as the locals call it) is one of the world’s largest funfairs and the most well known trademark of Bavarian culture abroad. So much so that it has several offsprings around the world, the biggest worldwide being the Oktoberfest in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario.
The Munich Oktoberfest has been held the last 2 weeks of September in an area called Theresienwiese since 1810. After the parade of the Wiesn hosts dressed up in traditional suits, which starts downtown and ends at the fairground, Muncih's Mayor taps the first keg in the Schottenhamel tent at exactly 12 o’clock. With the tapping of the keg and the cry “O' zapft is!” (“It's tapped!” in Bavarian dialect), the Oktoberfest is officially opened.
Every year people excitedly await how many tries the Mayor will need to open the keg and people even make bets. The record is 2 tries, yet 19 tries have also been necessary once. The Oktoberfest yearly welcomes around 6 million visitors (record was set in 1985 with 7.1 million), who drink an average of 6 million liters of the beer brewed especially for the occasion and eat 500,000 roast chickens, served by approx. 1600 waiters. Stamps on letters sent via the Oktoberfest-postboxes gain instant value on the stamp collectioners' market.
