175th Oktoberfest

PANAMA. The Oktoberfest is a sixteen-day beer festival held each year in Munich, Bavaria, Germany during late September and running to early October. It is the world's largest fair, with some six million people attending every year.

The original Oktoberfest, organized as a great horse race, occurred in Munich on 1810 to commemorate the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen organized a great horse race.

To honor the marriage, a parade takes place since 1850 where 8,000 people in traditional costumes walk from Maximilian Street, through the center of Munich, to the Oktoberfest.

This year, Munich mayor Christian Ude opened the 175th Oktoberfest beer festival on Saturday September 18 with the traditional cry of "O' zapft is! — "It's tapped!" It took him just two swift strokes to pound a spigot into the first massive beer keg.

A 12-gun salute signaled to the hundreds of thousands who turned out for the festival’s inauguration day that it was time to start the beer flowing in the 31-hectare grounds.

Other cities across the world also hold Oktoberfests, modeled after the Munich event.

In Canada, the Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest is an annual 9 day celebration in Ontario. It's the world's largest Oktoberfest celebration outside of Germany, attracting over 700,000 visitors.

In the United States, there are Oktoberfest celebrations right across the country, with the largest in Cincinnati, OH.

In Panama, Rincon Aleman is celebrating Oktoberfest in its Biergarten, and invites everyone to enjoy typical German music from Monday to Saturday.

Special promotions include: first ½ liter beer and a German sausage for $5; an original Oktoberfest jar with beer plus a German sausage (the jar is yours to keep) for $20; an ½ liter beer with smoked pork and sauerkraut and potatoes, $15.

You will be also be able to enjoy similar typical German culinary delights.

Rincon Aleman is on 51st St Bella Vista. For more information, contact: 264-0590.