Oktoberfest 2023
Dieter Reiter opens with two shots
Mayor Dieter Reiter at this year’s Oktoberfest in Munich.
© imago/Lindenthaler
O’zapft is! Mayor Dieter Reiter opened the Oktoberfest on Saturday with a successful tapping and in the presence of the first celebrities.
The 188th Oktoberfest in Munich opened on Saturday afternoon at 12 p.m. in great weather and with a successful tapping. “Let’s try two shots again this year,” said the mayor Dieter Reiter (65, SPD) optimistic in the well-filled Schottenhamel festival tent. “He’s a little nervous,” his wife Petra Reiter clarified. After two strong blows it was said again: “O’zapft is”!
The first pint of beer was traditionally presented to Prime Minister Markus Söder (56, CSU), who is particularly looking forward to “Hendl Hendl Hendl” this year. Together, Söder and Reiter then raised their standards for a first “Happy to Coziness”.
Florian Silbereisen and Andreas Gabalier are celebrating
Numerous prominent faces also gathered in the Schottenhamel festival tent for the tapping. Among those present was pop singer Florian Silbereisen, 42, who was allowed to ride on the carriage for the first time this year. “Last year I wasn’t there, this year I was finally back at the Oktoberfest,” said the musician happily. “What more could we want, the weather is playing along, the atmosphere is sensational.”
The Austrian singer Andreas Gabalier, 38, also celebrated next to him on the beer tent bench: “This is Munich. […] It’s really a little homecoming.”