Munich in readiness for Oktoberfest 2007

The countdown is on to the climax of months of planning and preperation for the 2007 Oktoberfest in Munich Germany. It’s less than three hours till the Lord Mayor of Munich taps the first keg and declares “O’zapft is!” (Bavarian: “It’s tapped!”). the world’s biggest folk festival open for another year.  Over the next 16 days over 6 million people will drink a third of Munich’s yearly beer intake in the grounds of the Theresenwiese.

Only local Munich breweries serve beer at the festival and many serve a special Oktoberfest brew for the occasion, this beer is slightly darker and a bit stronger than their normal brews and is in a one-liter glass tankard called a  Maß.

There are 14 large tents including The Hippodrom, Armbrustschützenzelt, Hofbräu Festzelt, Hacker-Festzelt, Schottenhamel, Winzerer Fähndl, Schützen-Festzelt, Käfers Wiesn Schänke, Weinzelt, Löwenbräu-Festhalle, Bräurosl, Augustiner-Festhalle, Ochsenbraterei and Fischer Vroni plus many smaller tents. Some of these larger tents are able to seat 4 – 5000 people in one sitting.

Over the festival Hoppsy will have several reports live from the 2007 Oktoberfest.

Official Site: http://www.oktoberfest.de/en/02/