Oktoberfest is no longer just for the Germans. People travel from all over the world to attend the largest festival in the world, which has been around for almost 200 years.

In addition to the Bavarian metropolis, Oktoberfest is celebrated in cities all over the world.

Here's how it all began and some interesting statistics.

The first Oktoberfest in Munich took place in 1810, when Crown Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. The wedding was to be duly celebrated with horse races and culinary delights. The citizens of Munich were invited to the festivities in the fields in front of the city gate. These fields were renamed Theresienwiesen. These culinary delights, especially beer, were much more popular than the wedding or the horse races.

Since then, the Munich beer festival has been repeated almost every year. Only during major crises, such as in times of war or epidemics, could the people of Munich be prevented from gathering at the "Wies'n".

Although it is called Oktoberfest, the festivities begin in September, as autumn in Bavaria can be unpredictable and bring early cold snaps with snowfall.

Today, Oktoberfest is the world's largest festival. Every year, visitors come from all over the world to celebrate the typical Bavarian beer festival. But the Oktoberfest has other attractions to offer besides beer tents, such as roller coasters, circuses, parades and live bands. The first merry-go-rounds were set up at the Oktoberfest in 1818.

The opening ceremony is at exactly 12 noon. The mayor appears in a festively decorated carriage followed by a beer cart pulled by horses. Guests, employees and musicians all wear the traditional costume (lederhosen and dirndl). At the end of the parade, the mayor taps the first pint of beer with the words: "o'zapft is!"

You need good nerves and a strong stomach to survive the 16 days of intense partying and beer drinking. But the Oktoberfest is a huge international success: not only do many foreign visitors travel to each festival, but the name 'Oktoberfest' has also been exported all over the world.

Of course there is only one true Oktoberfest, the original.

Facts about the Oktoberfest:

• In 1997, more than 5 ½ million litres of beer, 45,000 litres of wine and 165,000 litres of non-alcoholic drinks were consumed.
• The colloquial name "Wies'n," is short for Theresienwiese, where the first Oktoberfest was held.
• The festival halls in Munich have space for 94,000 people.
• The beer that the Munich breweries Löwenbräu, Spaten, Augustiner, Hofbräu, Paulaner and Hacker-Pschorr produce especially for the Oktoberfest has 4.5% alcohol.
• Cincinnati, Ohio, where the largest Oktoberfest in the USA is held, has around 500,000 visitors.
• The Munich Oktoberfest has around 6,000,000 visitors every year.
• Oktoberfest records: In 1985 there were 7.1 million visitors.
• In 2006, 6.9 million litres of beer were tapped.
• A pint of beer cost €7.50 last year
• 30% of Munich's annual beer production is consumed during the 2 weeks of Oktoberfest.
• 12000 people are employed at the Oktoberfest, 1600 of them waitresses.
• Around 220000 sausages and 460000 roast chickens are consumed.