It’s tapped – beer flows as Oktoberfest opens in Munich

The first keg has been tapped and the beer is flowing as the 185th Oktoberfest gets under way in Munich.

Mayor Dieter Reiter inserted the tap in the first keg on Saturday with two blows of a hammer and the cry of “O’zapft is” – “it’s tapped”.

As tradition demands, he handed the first mug to Bavarian governor Markus Soder, who declared that “the Oktoberfest is perhaps Bavaria’s biggest and best visiting card in the world”.

As in previous years, backpacks and large bags are banned for security reasons.

Beer prices are up again, with a one litre tankard costing up to 11.50 euros (£10.30) – a 55-cent (49p) increase over last year.

Hundreds of visitors, most of them wearing traditional lederhosen or dirndls, waited to be let in to the festival grounds early Saturday morning ahead of the official keg-tapping at noon.

Some 600 police officers and hundreds of stewards will keep order at the fenced-off grounds over the 16 days of the event.