About 700,000 people visited Germany’s Oktoberfest on its opening weekend, despite cold and wet weather, organizers said Sunday.
The figure is significantly lower than the 1 million people who visited in the same time period in 2019 – the last Oktoberfest to be held before the coronavirus pandemic.
Clemens Baumgärtner, the main organizer of the event, said on Sunday that he was pleased with the opening and that he hoped the weather would improve over the next two weeks.
Thousands of people dressed in traditional Bavarian costumes took to the streets of Munich on Sunday for the annual costume parade (Trachtensug).
Marchers represented groups from all over Germany, as well as groups from as far away as the US and Canada.
Many of them “armed themselves” with umbrellas, others chose traditional headwear to match their outfits.
Despite the weather, tens of thousands took to the streets of Munich to watch the parade make its way to the Oktoberfest grounds.
Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter and Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder were also there with their wives, riding in special carriages.
At 7 kilometers long, the Oktoberfest costume parade is the longest such parade in the world.