October 12, 2009
Bangkok (AFP) – The German beer festival was celebrated not only by Germans, but also people in other corners of the world. The festivities sometimes degenerate into fighting, with glasses and bottles used as weapons.
This year's Oktoberfest, the 176th, sees the price of a traditional litre mug up by 30 cents to between 8.10 and 8.60 euros (11.90 and 12.60 dollars) and the press warned not to film drunken bare-chested revellers.
"We have had enough of politics," said 18-year-old Hans, an economics student.
"We are here just to booze. I can drink five litres and then I am completely smashed," he said, deploring the spike in beer prices.
"It must be the world's most expensive beer!" he said.
A woman who gave her name as Eva echoed him.
"The Oktoberfest is not just an idyllic world. It's in the public interest to record this great event," union chief Wolfgang Stoeckel said
The Oktoberfest attracts some six million visitors a year, who swallow as many litres of beer and bring in in 830 million euros to the southern German city.
