SHOULD THERE BE BOOGIE WITH THE BOOZE
2. SHOULD THERE BE BOOGIE WITH THE BOOZE
There is perhaps one festival that all the drunkards of the world fervently look forward to. The October Fest, which is also known as Beer Fest. An estimated seven million people from different parts of the world are known to converge at Munich in Germany in October every year to take part in this festival in which millions of litres of beer are consumed in a matter of just a fortnight. It is said that no other festival anywhere in the world attracts such a massive crowd.
Though known as October fest, the festivities in fact begins in late September. Despite being a boozers’ meet, there is a strict code of conduct for the festival that is meticulously observed by one and all. The festival gets an auspicious start at the stroke of 12 noon with the Mayor of Munich ceremoniously tapping a beer barrel. As if on signal, hundreds of thousands of mugs get filled up in the first wave of an almost never ending process of filling and drinking for a fortnight, instantly turning Munich into a paradise of boozers.
One may wonder where is the space for seven million drunkards to sit and drink to their hearts’ content. Well, to say the least, Munich has the wherewithal. Authorities make excellent arrangements to ensure that for all the boozers of the world and more there is enough space in Munich. In the extensive garden laid out with eye catching lawns and lined with trees, all facilities are made All space expands with the elasticity of a boozer’s mind. All facilities are made to welcome the boozers and to make them feel at home. Leading manufacturers of beer erect spacious beer tents, each having all the amenities needed to accommodate as many as 20,000 guests. There are fourteen such tents in the vast garden. As the flow of the boozers go up, the number of temporary tents also go up. With the launch of the Beer Fest, Munich gets throbbing and pulsating with the rollercoaster rides of the amusement parks, modelled after Disneyland, colourful pageantries, musical concerts and other festivities arranged for the entertainment of the boozers. The tents have room for everyone and facilities for everything. For the young men and women in love, there is perfect ambience for the exchange of hearts. And for the estranged among them it is the venue for a spirited come back, settling their differences and dispensing with the discords. For the lonely hearts it is the place to have a quiet drink in a corner or, if they like, strike up new friendships and tie ups.
It is not the ordinary boozer alone who gets attracted to the fest. Glamour stars, intellectuals and big wigs also frequent the bacchanalia. In the pavilions they patronize there is usually heavy rush of young boozers of both sexes who take to autograph hunting.
There is both history and romance behind this world famous festival of the boozers. Its beginning was believed to be in the year 1811. In 1810 the king of Bavaria, Ludwig I, married Princess Theresa. The venue chosen for the wedding festivities was the vast garden in the heart of Munich, the capital of Bavaria. It was a spectacular royal wedding and the festivities were unmatched in pomp and heraldry. The king, however, wanted the commoners to take part in the festivities and so on the fifth day of the wedding he arranged for a splendid horse race. With all that it was a wedding that thrilled and enchanted the Bavarians beyond compare.
The following year the Bavarians thought why not a repeat of the festivities in the garden in which the royal wedding took place. That was the beginning of October Fest. And the beer makers rose to the occasion by giving all encouragement and incentive for the festivities. Till now the sixteen days in September and October attract drinkers and drunkards from all over the world to the garden tents in Munich to partake in this bacchanalia. This festival had to be suspended 24 times. That was because of temporary obstructions caused by wars, epidemics and situations like recession.
Though not by design, I reached Munich once during the October Fest. Hotel rent was like nowhere else in the world. When the inflated rate was mentioned I felt something amiss. With a smile, the girl at the counter said, during October Fest it is not the cost but the availability of room that mattered. By inviting boozers of the world for two weeks the Bavarian Government and the Munich City administration make a lot of money. To be approximate Rs. 50,000 million. Added to that there are new jobs for 20,000 people.
Though there is definitely a link between tourism and drinking, it is doubtful whether there is any other government in the world that has so cleverly used liquor for the promotion of tourism. I remembered the tourism promotion efforts in Goa and Kerala. When the liquor festival was confined to a fortnight in Munich, in Goa and Kerala it was liquor and liquor all the way through the year. But does tourism go up here in proportion to the rise in the intake of booze?
There is no manifestation of drunken revelry in the Beer fest. There is booze in the queues, booze in the tents, booze in the hotels, booze in the parks. There is boozing evereywhere, but whatever is drunk remains in the bowels only. There is no drunken dance whatsoever. Here and there some people go off the senses. They also take to some pranks. But such errant behaviour is promptly dealt with and such people are whisked away to a special ‘Clowns’ tent’. The best way to learn about rule of law in a country is to understand the behaviour pattern of the boozers. The drinkers who visit October Fest come there to enjoy their drinks and not for any drunken riot.
A descendant of King Ludwig who started the October Fest now runs a brewery. But he does not have permission to take part in the Fest. That is because of the rule that only beer made within the limits of Munich city can be sold in the October Fest. The prince’s brewery is outside the city limits. But clever that he is, he attempted a way out of the legal imbroglio through a short cut to the festival: set up a mobile beer unit in Munich. But even then the city administration declined to give him permission. Determined to find his way in, the prince vowed that he would be in the festival within five years. If he failed, he would personally carry a litre of beer thirty miles to present it to the festival authorities. If he succeeded, the organizers would have to reciprocate in the same way. The prince lost the legal battle. He kept his word and came with a litre of beer at the head of a spectacular procession. A pageant that took the glitz out of the October Fest.
But at the entrance to the city, police stopped the pageant. The prince argued that it was his right to take a litre of beer to Munich. The law enforcers admitted that he did have the right. His litre of beer was well within the law but his procession was clear unlawful.
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