European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 20, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                If if the arrival of horse drawn wagons helps kick off the oktoberfest.  a Parlby Steve Taylor Munich Bureau one thing i be noticed during my first year in Germany is that bavarian like to celebrate events in a big Way a and usually find a reason several times each year to do so. The oktoberfest is no exception. The six big Munich breweries will be Here again occupying their giant Beer tents a 12 in All. Count it 13 if you add the wine tent. Since each Beer Hall can seat about 6,000 when full As they often Are More than 70,000 people Are going to be drinking Beer at the same time. During the three weeks of oktoberfest More than 5 million mugs of Beer will be sold. Folks get hungry too. How about 725,000 chickens 72 oxen roasted whole on the spit 320,000 pairs of pork sausages and 65,000 pork Knuckles and that does t include about 90 other food concessions with pretzels fish Candy ice Cream and fruit. But the fest is More than Beer and food brass bands and Strong armed waitresses. There will be More than 70 carnival rides including four roller coasters and two White water rides with about 20 others designed for kids. There will also be hundreds of other stands offering everything from state lottery tickets to turkish sweets games of Chance and wrap around cinemas. For the City of Munich it s a Mammoth undertaking As some 8 million people descend upon the City of 1.3 million. The City increases the frequency of Streetcar bus and subway runs. The Power consumption of the fest totals nearly 2 million kilowatts of electricity enough to Supply 800 Homes for a year. The oktoberfest at night glows under the Glare of 350,000 lights. And a Small army of trash collectors makes sure the 40,000 cubic feet of trash gets hauled away. And to get the word out As if it were really necessary the City tourist office distributes More than 27,000 posters around the world and a half million brochures in English French italian and German. Just to make sure no one forgets Munich s favorite  roots continued from Page 3 about 60 per comit of the City regrouped and staged the first postwar oktoberfest. By 1960, the fest again firmly established As an annual cultural event had become the boisterous event known today. Now some 8 million people each year visit with weekend crowds approaching a million a Day. 1 he oktoberfest has become Many things to Many people. Some think it s now a Celebration for Al Weiber Sommer Bavaria s version of a stateside Indian summer. Others might Tell you it s to celebrate the coming october Harvest. But whatever the reason no one in Munich feels the need to justify a Celebration and contrary to some reports it seems that the fest is Here to stay. As the Cloudy Rainy weather of Early september in Munich gives Way to the last respite before Winter sets in the world s largest Keg party Marks the moment in a big Way. Munich s lord mayor Here Reorg Kronawitter at 1988 festival officially starts the party by tapping the first Keg at noon on opening Day. 4 stripes Magazine september 20, 1990