Rise in stolen beer mugs at OktoberFest
MUNICH - The Oktoberfest, Munich's two-week festival of serious drinking and merrymaking, drew to a close Sunday with well over 6 million foaming mugs of beer sold.
Not only were the drinkers happy. So were the brewers, who had put up with two bad years. With 6.3 million attendances - there is no entrance charge, but security guards monitor arrivals - this was a good year again. Beer sales to Saturday totalled 6.1 million litres.
While tourists have carried the fame of Oktoberfest round the world, 85 percent of the crowds swaying to the oompah music in the big tents and shrieking on the rollercoasters are native Germans.
Friday, with 650,000 people stopping by to drink beer, patronize the fairground rides or just stare, was one of the most crowded days at any of the 170 Oktoberfests held so far. It was a public holiday in Germany.
In 2001, attendance was flat amid mourning over the September 11 attacks, and a rainy 2002 autumn reduced attendances to 5.9 million.
Police and medical orderlies said there had been an increase in drunken scuffles, but no rise in serious injuries, and there had been fewer sexual assaults than in the past. For the first time, this year's fest had a "security point" for women in distress.
It had helped 18 women and 8 girls, Munich municipal tourism executive Gabrielle Weishaeupl said Sunday.
The Red Cross first-aid post at the fairground said it treated 40 per cent more injuries this year, but the rise had been entirely in lesser mishaps. Police were called out 1,581 times.
Pilfering surged, according to guards, who said they confiscated 195,000 stolen steins from departing visitors. Last year 155,000 of the huge earthenware or glass mugs, which are difficult to conceal on the body even when when sober, were seized from homebound drinkers.
Lapses of concentration led at least three visitors to forget their dentures. Weishaeupl said the lost-and-found office had returned two sets of teeth to the right mouths, but one set looked likely to be unclaimed as the last tent closed late Sunday night.
This year's festival again featured an online shop that allowed fans to click their way to genuine merchandise - from risque hats to beer steins and lederhosen - without actually having to travel to Munich, eat huge servings of grilled chicken and sing lewd songs.
There is nothing that an Oktoberfest patron can get - aside from a hangover - that the Internet-savvy shopper cannot get online.
Items on offer included yodelling teddy bears (male and female, in lederhosen), cow bells, knee stockings, tea towels and ceramic, glass and pewter steins. Bavariashop.com even had official 2003 Oktoberfest golf balls. Not to mention official Oktoberfest underwear.
Those keen to celebrate Oktoberfest in other months of the year need only stockpile the beer and engage a busty serving wench - the blue-and-white checkered apron for her to wear is available from Bavariashop.com.
The cyber-shop was an instant success from its start in 1998 and claims annual increases in sales of 300 percent. To meet the demand Bavariashop.com is setting up warehouses in the United States and in Shanghai to speed deliveries to American and Japanese customers.
This year's Oktoberfest began September 20. It has October in its name because of a tradition going back to its foundation as a horse- racing weekend in 1810. The fest, which has gradually begun earlier and earlier, has skipped some years because of wars and cataclysms.
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