6.6 Million Liters of Beer, 104 Oxen and No False Teeth

[Heinrich]

It's that sad time of year again -- the Munich Oktoberfest is over. But the
annual post-Oktoberfest statistics on beer and oxen consumption make for
entertaining reading, as does the list of lost items which for the first
time since records began does not include a set of false teeth.

Statistics needn't be boring. In fact they're downright entertaining in the
case of the Oktoberfest. Each year after the two-week celebration of beer
and Lederhosen ends, the city of Munich provides figures that give an
insight into the scale and intensity of the world's biggest beer festival.

Beer consumption, as always, is the key figure. It declined by 300,000
litres to 6.6 million as a result of cold and rainy weather this year. The
number of visitors fell by 200,000 to 6 million.

In fact the weather was so cold that stalls sold 2,000 liters of mulled wine
normally reserved for the Christmas market season to men and women freezing
in their Lederhosen and Dirndls.

The number of oxen devoured remained stable at 104 and the security guards
in the 14 giant beer tents confiscated a total of 200,000 empty Mass liter
glasses that visitors had tried to smuggle out of the tents as mementoes.

Anyone who has visited the Oktoberfest and seen hundreds of revellers
dancing on the wooden tables, holding up their beer glasses and chanting
along to DJ Ötzi's cover version of "Hey! Baby" knows how merry the
atmosphere can get.

For those who haven't, a look at the lost and found register evokes the
raucous celebrations.

Members of staff found 680 identity cards and passports, 410 wallets, 360
keys, 265 spectacles, 280 mobile phones and 80 cameras, one set of diving
goggles, one set of angel's wings, a superman costume and four wedding
rings.

A long-haired Dachshund was also found roaming the festival ground, but was
later reclaimed by its owner.

"For the first time, no dentures were found," the Munich city press
department said with a mixture of surprise and disappointment. "Is this a
sign of demographic change, good dental hygiene or a higher rate of tooth
implants