And since 1950, the Oktoberfest has officially opened with the tapping of the first keg by the Munich mayor.
Most people might expect to suffer some ill effects from attending the famous Oktoberfest beer festival in Munich - but not to contract a potentially deadly virus from being bitten on the leg.
But do not worry, all the familiar Oktoberfest trappings will still be there as well.
The bicentennial Oktoberfest in 2010 drew over 8 million: imagine everyone in New York City put into a fairgrounds for two weeks to listen to oompah bands and drink beer - nearly 2 million gallons worth, or around 8 million giant liter steins, each close to three typical beers.
Last September was the 200th birthday of Oktoberfest, quite literally the biggest party in the world.
The village even has its own Taybeh Oktoberfest, held on the first weekend of October.
Avery followed that up with the Dictators: three powerful beers dubbed the Maharaja (a hoppy, dark amber ale), the Kaiser (a deep copper, traditional Oktoberfest brew) and the Czar (a robust stout with hints of toffee and mocha).
During the festival, participating beer halls keep shorter hours than in Oktoberfest to account for the potency of the beer served in the one-liter ceramic steins.
But of course beer is the most important part of Oktoberfest, and organizers say around six million liters will be consumed this year.
The event always begins on Saturday with a citywide parade and symbolic transport of kegs from downtown to the festival park, where the Mayor taps the first one and proclaims Oktoberfest open.
While the 201st anniversary probably will not see the record setting crowds that overran Munich latest year and for the first time in recent history brought a sense of chaos to the normally clockwork event, Oktoberfest has been generally trending upwards and is more popular than ever.
German entrepreneurs must submit their plans to the government and wait--past one Oktoberfest, then another--for an average of 18 months while Berlin decides whether the baby should live.
Munich hosts one of the world's most famous municipal celebrations, known globally as Oktoberfest (although it is in fact held at the end of September) and known to locals as Wiesn (from the grassy expanse where it is held called Theresienwiese).
In 2010 when I went to cover the vastly oversubscribed 200th anniversary edition of Oktoberfest and flights were scarce and I could not get a room within a hundred miles of Munich, I simply used Delta Vacations, who still had timely flights and blocked off rooms in key downtown hotels.
These were to be the "Carefree Games" -- an Olympian Oktoberfest -- and for two weeks everything went to plan.
Although Oktoberfest began 200 years ago, this year's festival is only the 177th, since it wasn't held during the two World Wars and during a cholera outbreak, organizers say.
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