First kegs tapped at the 179th Oktoberfest

The mayor of Munich has tapped the first keg of beer to kick off the 179th traditional German folk festival of Oktoberfest. With only two blows of his mallet, Ude announced “It’s tapped!”, opening the festival. More than six million guests from around the world are expected to descend on the beer tents of Munich to celebrate Oktoberfest, which runs up to 7th October. Last year’s visitors consumed almost 8 million, 2-pint mugs of beer. German authorities keep security tight around the fairgrounds, which accommodate hundreds of thousands of people at a time, although, they say, no concrete threat exists.