World War I, Toilets and Bopping Heads Plays Role in International Pop Culture at Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest draws huge crowds at the world's largest funfair in Munich this year.
Munich, Germany, November 5, 2014 (Newswire.com) - Bottoms up! Revelers from all over the world congregate in Munich for the annual Oktoberfest, which ran from September through October. A big section in Oktoberfest this year was the International Pop Culture Exhibit displaying International Pop Culture of the last 100 Years. Everything from World War I breaking out in the Balkins to the first computer in the 50's, to the Pet Rock in the 70's. The exhibit ends with a green screen videotron for the current year of 2014.
A company called Bopping Heads actually ran the 2014 exhibit, which by far drew the most crowds. The entire Pop Culture exhibit was about the length of a football field and Bopping Heads had a line extending nearly a quarter of that distance all lined up to superimpose their heads on a dancing body. Silly of course, but I guess that's what made it one of the most popular exhibits (excluding the beer taps of course) at this year's Oktoberfest. (I had also seen Bopping Heads at the festival of the bull at Pomplona, Spain back in July. They sure get around!
As usual, there were some great pictures from the event as the football stars donned traditional dress and brought along their families for the event. Since 1950, there has been a traditional festival opening. A twelve gun salute and the tapping of the first kig of Oktoberfest beer at 12:00 by the incumbent Mayor of Munich.
Before the festivities officially started at 12 PM, there was a famous parade of traditional gun clubs, waitresses and londlords of the tents.
This year, over 6.6 million people visited Oktoberfest, nad the festival served 6.8 million liters of beer.
Nearly 1,000 tons of rubbish result annually from the Oktoberfest. The mountains of rubbish created are hauled away and the ways cleanly washed down each morning. The cleaning is paid for in part by the city of Munich and in part by the sponsors.[citation needed]
In 2004 the queues outside the toilets became so long that the police had to regulate the entrance. To keep traffic moving through the toilets, men headed for the toilets were directed to the urinals (giant enclosed grate) if they only needed to urinate. Consequently, the number of toilets was increased by 20% in 2005. Approximately 1,800 toilets and urinals are available at this time.
On October 5th, the curtains came down on the 181st Munich Oktoberfest in the capital of Bavaria.