“Ozapft is!!!” – the traditional deflowering of the first beer keg by Munich’s mayor.

The “Münchner Kindl” – the symbol of Munich in the opening parade. It used to stand for monks who founded the city – now it’s a bloody woman …

Try to find some “Gemütlichkeit” in that overcrowded beer hell!

Nah, not going. I am missing that old flair and Gemütlichkeit. Today the Oktoberfest is just an overcrowded theme party – everybody is wearing Dirndls and Lederhosen without honoring tradition or any sense of style.

And the “Kampfsaufen” (combat drinking) has become epidemic. In the good old days the tents closed around 23:00 – and everybody went home. But today people swarm to “afterparties” and other events to continue drinking until they drop. And I mean that literally: the number of death through alcohol has risen in recent years and medical help is more often needed to revive seriously intoxicated party animals.

This has nothing to do with a “family festival”.