"O'zapft is! - 14 days of Oktoberfest fun. Exhibition and exhibition business news for Ukraine and all over the world

With the traditional words "O'zapft is!" - "the barrel has been tapped" - the Munich major Christian Ude declared the Oktoberfest 2007 open. From September 22 to Oktober 10 the world's largest beer festival will attract about six million people who are expected to consume innumerable litres ("Maßkrüge" in Bavarian) of the famous Oktoberfest beer.

The Oktoberfest is a two-week festival held each year in Munich, Bavaria, Germany during late September and early October. It is one of the most famous events in the city and the world's largest fair, with some six million people attending every year.

The schedule was changed following German reunification in 1990 so that if the first Sunday in October falls on the 1st or 2nd, then the festival will go on until October 3rd (German Unity Day). The festival is held on an area named the Theresienwiese (Field [or meadow] of Therese), often called "d’ Wiesn" for short. Beer plays a central role in the fair. A special Oktoberfest beer is brewed for the occasion, which is slightly darker and stronger, in both taste and alcohol. It is served in a one-liter-tankard called Maß.

Visitors also consume large quantities of food, most of it traditional hearty fare such as sausage, hendl (chicken), käsespätzle (cheese noodles), and sauerkraut, along with such Bavarian delicacies as roast ox tails.

Detailed festival information on www.oktoberfest.de.