Oktoberfest

What actually happens

O'zapft is! — the mayor's tap at noon on the opening Saturday. Trachtenzug — the costume parade, 8,000 participants in historic dress.

• 01O'zapft is! — the mayor's tap at noon on the opening Saturday.
• 02Trachtenzug — the costume parade, 8,000 participants in historic dress.
• 03Ein Prosit — the band's 20-second oompah loop that resets the whole tent.
• 04Schützen- und Trachtenfest — rifle clubs and guilds marching on the second Sunday.

Sound of the crowd

Brass band repertoire is functionally a tempo control system. Kapellen hold 8,000 drinkers at roughly 112 bpm, dropping to a waltz whenever the tent needs to recover.

How it survived

Cancelled 26 times, for war, cholera and hyperinflation. The 1980 bombing killed 13 and remains the reason the main entrance is so heavily policed. Since 2010 the 'Oide Wiesn' has reintroduced the historic Septemberwiesen, complete with a museum of the festival's own past.