I want you to do me a favor. Close your eyes, and think back: back to college, back to Mardi Gras, back to Cancun. Imagine biggest party youve ever been to in your life. For some, its that once-in-a-lifetime trip to New Orleans; for others, its the frat fest at Halloween where there are more little party cups than there are human beings. Whatever that uber-party is, picture it in your mind.
Now multiply it by, oh, at least a million. You mightmightapproach the jubilee that is Oktoberfest, the largest public festival in the world. With an average of six million annual visitors and only God knows how many beers, the yearly festival in Munich dwarfs every other celebration on earthsave, maybe, the millennium celebration. And unlike other parties that stop after, oh, one or two days, Oktoberfest sees fit to keep on truckin for two weeks. Thats a lot of beer, but fortunately there are plenty of people to drink it. Stretching from the last weekend of September to the first weekend of October, Oktoberfest attracts visitors from every corner of the globeand has inspired a plethora of tributes in just as many countries. Odds are, if youre anywhere near some fairgrounds, therell...