MUNICH, Germany, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- For Armin Jumel, Oktoberfest is more than a festival -- it is a family tradition. For 35 years, the 45-year-old Bavarian has been a constant presence at the world's largest beer party, never missing a single edition except for officials and staff.
As the 190th Oktoberfest opened on Saturday in Munich, Jumel stood out in lederhosen and a hat adorned with green hops inside the packed Schottenhamel festival hall, the traditional stage for the opening ceremony.
"I'm here almost every day during the festival. This is pure joy," he said, proudly showing a wooden mug cover that marks the table reserved for his family since 1950.
By tradition, no beer is served until Munich's mayor Dieter Reiter taps the first barrel at noon. This year, Reiter did the honors with two strikes, officially launching the 16-day folk festival.
"We Bavarians love our folk festivals. Even nowadays, three-quarters of the visitors at Oktoberfest still come from Bavaria," he added.
That tradition also extends to the beer itself. Only six Munich breweries, including Paulaner, Augustiner and Spaten, are allowed to serve at Oktoberfest, a rule reinforced by a 1990 court ruling declaring the event "the festival of Munich beer."
"That's a core of the festival," Reiter said, taking particular pride and adding "Munich people love their beer, and we brew the best in the world."
German beer has long been a national calling card, brewed under purity laws dating back five centuries, allowing only water, malt, hops and yeast. During the post-war boom, annual per-capita consumption in Germany soared from 35.6 liters in 1950 to 141 liters in 1970, helping turn Oktoberfest into a million-visitor spectacle that soon attracted international crowds.
In recent years, however, Germany's beer market has come under strain. Changing tastes, new beverage options and the rise of non-alcoholic beer have chipped away at demand. Federal statistics show that sales in the first half of 2025 dropped 6.3 percent year-on-year to 3.9 billion liters, the lowest half-year figure since records began in 1993. Per-capita consumption has also fallen steadily, from 125 liters in 2000 to about 88 liters in 2024.
Yet on opening day, this year's Oktoberfest showed little sign of market gloom. Under a rare late-September sun and 29-degree-Celsius temperature, beer lovers queued eagerly for their first one-liter mugs of Oktoberfest brew, stronger than regular beer at around six percent alcohol.
Festival chef Christian Scharpf remained optimistic. "Oktoberfest has 215 years of history. It has always been a huge magnet," he said. "Non-alcoholic drinks may be gaining ground in daily life, but here, people want a 'real' beer."
The event also carries weight far beyond the beer halls. Scharpf said Oktoberfest injects some 1.5 billion euros (1.76 billion U.S. dollars) into Munich's economy, with 40 percent spent on site and the rest spread across hotels, restaurants, shops and services.
Still, for many, the figures matter less than the spirit. "Nowhere else do you get this much positive energy," said Jumel. "Here, everybody is happy." (1 euro = 1.17 U.S. dollars)
