Oktoberfest: Tap Into the Party

In early October of 1810, Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria invited his loyal subjects to attend his wedding celebrations in front of the Munich city gates. Ludwig went on to become a king, and the two-week-long bash became the annual Oktoberfest.

The event's originators could scarcely have imagined the scale of today's event. It takes two months of setup to prepare the grounds for 6.5 million attendees who drink 7.7 million liters of beer, in addition to wine and non-alcoholic beverages.

There are currently 14 large and 20 small tents at Oktoberfest. Entry is free, but the wise reserve seats. Each tent serves different kinds of beer and wine, which one must be seated to order. The last call for drinks is around 10:30 p.m. The most important tent is called Schottenhamel and seats 10,000 people. Only after the mayor of Munich has personally tapped the first keg inside it at noon on the first day, which is always a Saturday, can other tents begin serving customers.

In Germany, a person can drink beer from the age of 16, so expect to rub elbows with revelers from all walks of life!

慕尼黑啤酒節

在 1810 年的十月初，巴伐利亞的路德維希王子邀請忠臣參加他在慕尼黑城門前所舉辦的婚禮慶典。路德維希接著成為國王，而為期兩週的盛宴成了一年一度的慕尼黑啤酒節。
慕尼黑啤酒節的創始者大概無法想像今日這個節慶的規模。光是準備那些讓 650 萬名與會者飲用 770 萬公升啤酒的場地就要兩個月，還外加其它酒類與非酒精性飲料。
目前慕尼黑啤酒節有 14 座大的帳篷與 20 座小的。入場免費，不過明智的人會預訂座位。每座帳篷提供不同的啤酒和酒類，而每個人都必須有座位才能點酒。最後點酒的時間大約是晚上十點半。最重要的一座帳篷名為 Schottenhamel，可容納一萬人。只有當慕尼黑市長在活動首日的中午──這一天總在周六── 親自於此帳篷進行開酒儀式後，其它的帳篷才能開始供酒給客人。
在德國，只要滿 16 歲就可以喝啤酒了，所以期待與來自四方的狂歡者摩肩擦踵，一同慶祝吧！