The world's largest beer festival starts with the traditional tapping of the first keg
Sep 23, 2015 Oktoberfest, the world’s largest, rowdiest and most famous beer festival, recently opened in Munich. The event, which attracted visitors from around the globe, began with the traditional tapping of the first keg by Munich mayor Dieter Reiter.
As tradition has it, the mayor shouted “it’s tapped”, before serving the first beer to Bavarian state premier Horst Seehofer.
According to the organizers, the 182nd Oktoberfest is expected to host more than six million people. In previous outings, over seven million liters of beer, 120 oxen, half a million of rotisserie chicken and more than 50 calves, were consumed during the two-week party.
The mayors of Munich are not only judged by their political dedication but also by the number of mallet blows they need to open the first Oktoberfest keg. Mayor Reiter, in his second Oktoberfest as mayor, managed to open the keg with only two mallet blows- a very good result for his second opening.
“We wish for a peaceful festival, especially this year,” he said, adding that this year the Oktoberfest has a special significance. “We want to show that both things are possible in Munich: to emotionally deal with the migrant crisis, but at the same time to be able to party. And I think we will see that here in Munich.”
Bavarian state premier, Horst Seehofer, was quick to dismiss any connection between the migrant crisis and the beer festival in the same city.
“The one is not directly related to the other. We will do everything possible over the next couple of days to keep the big mass migration away from the greater Munich area, for security reasons. We saw a lot of solidarity from other Bavarian towns. But the topic of migration we will discuss away from this festival. It doesn’t belong here.”
Despite the hefty price, revelers were in high spirits, with some tents closing before the official opening at noon due to overcrowding. Long queues were also sighted outside popular beer tents from the early hours of the morning, although not a drop of beer must be served before noon.