16 September: Oktoberfest

Despite the name, Oktoberfest actually begins in September. Here are some things you may not know about the Bavarian Beer festival:

1. This world famous beer festival is held in Munich, on land known as the Theresienwiese (Theresia's meadow), so locals call it “Wiesn”, pronounced “Vizen”.
2. The festival began as a wedding celebration to celebrate the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig (who became King Ludwig I later) and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen (hence the name of the venue). They invited the whole of Munich to their wedding reception, which included a Horse race. It was decided to hold the race again the following year and it bacame an annual event. An agricultural show, beers stalls, Merry-Go-Rounds and other amusements were added to the festival over the years, although the horse race no longer happens.
3. The first event took place on October 12 1810 but now, despite the Oktoberfest moniker, it now starts in mid-September and ends in early October. This is because there is better weather in September.
4. They don't serve just any old beer. The beer on sale at Oktoberfest is specially brewed within Munich's city limits. The correct name for this drink is ‘Oktoberfestbier’. It's stronger than regular beer - at least 6% alcohol. One mug of it is equivalent to 8 shots of Schnapps. Not everybody realises this - 600-800 people suffer from alcohol poisoning ever year. The Red Cross has organised 15 beds for people who need to sleep it off, and the police are frequently called to deal with brawls. Attacking another festival goer with a beer mug can result in charges of assault with a deadly weapon. Another common crime is making off with the beer glasses, which belong to the breweries so it's against the law to take them. Security guards are posted at the exits to recover them - over 200,000 glasses will be confiscated by them.
5. Another consequence of lots of drunk people is that they lose stuff. The lost and found office ends up with thousands of the usual suspects - passports, wallets, cameras and mobile phones, but some wacky things, too, like a segway, a set of false teeth and a gravestone shaped like a pencil.
6. That said, Oktoberfest is allegedly very family friendly and has fun fairs and carnival rides for the kids. There's even a traditional church service held on the first Thursday. Not into beer? There is a Wine tent, too.
7. Admission to the festival, and even to the individual tents, is completely free - however, the beer is not and a mug, or Maß, of beer will set you back over ten euros.
8. The festival can only start after the official gun salute and the mayor giving the order O’ zapft is! (“It’s tapped!”) and offering the first mug to the Minister-President of the State of Bavaria.
9. Albert Einstein once worked as an electrician and helped set up one of the beer tents in 1896. Paris Hilton, on the other hand, is banned for life. My sources differ as to why - one said it was because locals were offended by her gold dirndl dress, another said it was because she turned up to promote a brand of canned wine without asking permission from the organisers first.
10. Most of the people who go are locals. 70% of the visitors are from Bavaria with 15% coming from other parts of Germany and 15% from the rest of the world.

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