TINA Turner and Usain Bolt - having swapped his famous Lycra for Lederhosen - were among the celebrities spotted soaking up Oktoberfest in Munich and now it's Glasgow's turn to get in on the fun.
For eight days this month, the city will host Glasgow Oktoberfest 2014, with up to 2,500 people each day expected to descend on Glasgow Green. A tradition which began in Munich 204 years ago, Oktoberfest attracts six million people every year with a growing number of spin-off festivals springing up around the world including the US, Australia and South Africa.
The Glasgow event will take place in a trestle table-filled marquee with serving staff dressed in traditional Bavarian attire including Lederhosen and Dirndl.
The tipple of choice, of course, is beer which has been brewed according to the German Reinheitsgebot purity law and has a strength of around five per cent. It will be shipped in to ensure freshness. On the menu will be the likes of German Schnitzel with Bavarian potato salad, while two music bands, Obenheimer Express Band and Zack Zillis, will make the trip from southern Germany to provide the foot-tapping sounds.
The official website includes a link to the "Lederhosen shop" for those who want to look the part as they swig pints of Bavarian golden nectar.
To get you up to speed, here's some Oktoberfest fast facts:
l The first Oktoberfest was held in 1810 to celebrate the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig to Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. The residents of Munich were invited to join the festivities on the fields in front of the city gates. Held over five days, some 40,000 people showed up.
l During the First and Second World Wars no Oktoberfest took place. In the immediate years afterwards Munich celebrated only Autumn Fest.
l Traditionally visitors to Oktoberfest wore Bavarian hats known as Tirolerhut which contained a tuft of goat hair. With goat hair highly valued and prized in Germany, the rationale was the more tufts on one's hat, the wealthier the wearer was considered to be. This convention sadly ceased when advances in technology saw the market flooded with cheap goat hair imitations. Spoilsports.
Glasgow Oktoberfest 2014 takes place from October 16-19 and 23-26. Visit glasgow-oktoberfest.co.uk
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