Beers flow in Munich as Oktoberfest begins
The world’s biggest beer festival opened Saturday in Germany as Munich Mayor Christian Ude tapped the first keg. Over 6 million guests are expected to attend the 16-day festival, which ends on Oct. 7, 2012.
- A woman wearing a traditional Bavarian Dirndl dress drinks beer at a beer tent on the opening day of Oktoberfest at Theresienwiese in Munich, Germany. (Alexandra Beier/Getty Images)
- A waitress carries beer mugs at Hofbraeuhaus beer tent on the first day of Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. (Johannes Simon/Getty Images)
- Revelers wearing different types of mock lederhosen arrive for the first day of Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. The festival runs from September 22 to October 7. (Johannes Simon/Getty Images)
- A trader covers his traditional ginger breads with see-through foil to protect them from heavy rain on the opening day of Oktoberfest in Munich. (Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)
- Revelers sit under umbrellas at a beer garden table with their traditional one-liter “Masskrug” beer mugs. (Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)
- Revelers salute with beer after the opening of the 179th Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. (Michael Dalder/Reuters)
- Munich mayor Christian Ude taps the first keg of beer with the traditional “O’zapft is!” (It’s tapped!) to kick off the Oktoberfest beer festival in Munich, Germany. (Frank Leonhardt/AFP/Getty Images)
- A reveler uses a mirror to check out a traditional Bavarian hat at the opening day of the Oktoberfest beer festival in Munich, Germany. (Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)
- Visitors look over the merchandise at a gingerbread booth during heavy rain on the first day of Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. Millions of beer drinkers from around the world will flock to the Bavarian capital for the festival’s 179th installment. (Michael Dalder/Reuters)
- Visitors wearing traditional Bavarian clothes get the first beers in a festival tent at the start of the Oktoberfest beer festival in Munich, Germany. (Christof Stache/AFP/Getty Images)
- Revelers enjoy drinking beer at the Hofbraeuhaus beer tent on the first day of Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. The 16-day festival is expected to draw over six million visitors. (Johannes Simon/Getty Images)
- Revelers take a break from drinking beer on the first day of Oktoberfest at the Theresienwiese in Munich, Germany. (Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)
- Waitresses of the Spaten brewery wave with beer mugs during the opening parade on the first day of Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. (Johannes Simon/Getty Images)
- Visitors wearing traditional Bavarian clothes wait during the Oktoberfest beer festival at the Theresienwiese in Munich, Germany. (Christof Stache/AFP/Getty Images)
- Visitors wearing traditional Bavarian garb ride a fairground ride on the first day of the Oktoberfest beer festival in Munich, Germany. The world’s biggest beer festival Oktoberfest will run until October 7, 2012. (Christof Stache/AFP/Getty Images)
- A long time exposure shows a ferris wheel at the Oktoberfest carnival in Munich, Germany, on September 22, 2012. (Michael Dalder/Reuters)
- A visitor wearing a traditional Bavarian hat stands in front of a ferris wheel at the Oktoberfest fairgrounds in Munich, Germany. (Michael Dalder/Reuters)
- A man wearing traditional Bavarian clothes and his dogs wait for the opening parade during the first day of Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. (Johannes Simon/Getty Images)
- Revelers enjoy drinking beer at the Hofbraeuhaus beer tent on the first day of Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. The 16-day festival is expected to draw over six million visitors. (Johannes Simon/Getty Images)