Oktoberfest sees numbers slump

Visitor numbers and beer consumption both fell at this year’s Oktoberfest organisers reported.

Visitor numbers fell to 5.9 million – the same level as 2009 – while beer consumption slumped to 7.3m litres, the equivalent of 400,000 mass mugs) fewer than last year. The average price of the litre glasses was €10.22.

Revellers however ate more than last year, consuming 114 oxen and 50 calves although the number of roast chickens consumed was not noted.

According to The Local, Munich’s mayor, Josef Schmid, blamed cold and damp weather and stronger border controls for the lower figures.

The recent influx of refugees from the Middle East has caused Germany to re-implement pre-Schengen border controls.

Deutsche Bahn has suspended certain services to and from Austria and Hungary as a result, keeping thousands of tourists from those countries away.

Someone who did make it though was Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who was spotted drinking beer and entertaining the crowds for the third successive year.