Oktoberfest in Munich, with tennis icon Boris Becker leading scores of celebrities and a growing number young Germans under the age of 30 to the festival.
“The Oktoberfest has discarded its old fashioned image and is chic again, especially for the young,” observed Germany’s normally critical Der Spiegel magazine. “The new generation voluntarily dons the Bavarian peasant look – long socks, leather trousers, aprons and blouses from which squeezed breasts quell forth like steamed dumplings.”
Although the Oktoberfest has the equivalent of a written constitution which prohibits advertising, the event was hijacked last year by Paris Hilton attempting to market canned Prosecco. The car hire magnate Regine Sixt also advertised her firm with the help of a large BMW saloon and a posse of samba dancers.
This year the Oktoberfest, which ends today, has banned explicit advertising although beer mugs and mats and napkin rings are still allowed to be decorated with company logos.
[Via The Independent]