It started with a five-day wedding and a horse race
in front of the gates of Munich.
Crown Prince Ludwig and princess Therese tied the knot in 1810, and everyone else enjoyed the parades, song and dance, and of course, the free beer and food. For the children, there was a carousel and a couple of swings.
Today, Oktoberfest occurs, amongst others, in the Hofbraeu brewery tent, where 10,000 thirsty and vocal souls compete for the attention of waitresses, who maneuver skillfully within the chaos. Eventually, a waitress brings them all a share of the half million roasted chickens, 44,000 pork shanks, and 102 oxen consumed each year -- flushed down with 7 million quarts of beer topped with glittering white foam.
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