Oktoberfest, Munich's annual beer-soaked festival, came to a close Monday, and this year's visitors "drank their way into the history books." The 6.4 million people who showed up at the two-week celebration drank a record 7 million liters of beer. And that's not all they did. (Watch a German report about Oktoberfest festivities.) Here is a by-the-numbers look at what may have been the world's biggest beer blowout ever:
6.94 million
The old record for liters of beer served, set in 2007
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117
Oxen roasted on spits to feed this year's crowds
200
Number of years Oktoberfest has been taking place; it was first held in 1810 to celebrate a royal Bavarian wedding
37
Children reported lost during this year's festivities
1
Number of tubas lost and then found
770
Number of lost IDs found
14
Number of huge beer tents. For the first time, authorities imposed a smoking ban in the tents. Staff had worried that, without smoke, the tents would be filled with unpleasant smells from toilets and spilled beer, reports Der Spiegel. "But there were no reports of any worse than usual stench — possibly because many visitors were too comatose to notice."
10,000
Approximate number of people a tent can accommodate at any given time
130,000
Number of beer glasses stolen from this year's festival
32
Injuries — including concussions and skull fractures — reported as a result of assaults with beer glasses by the end of the first week of this year's festival
19
Beer-stein-related assaults reported at the same point last year
2.9
The weight, in pounds, of the typical beer stein. It is "an effective striking tool," says Erich Schuller, a physicist at Munich University. "Thanks to the handle, it's easy to grip."
Sources: Der Spiegel (2), Gadling
