Oktoberfest opens as crowds race for best beer tent spots

Crowds rushed onto the Oktoberfest grounds in the southern German city of Munich shortly after the gates opened on Saturday. Some visitors ran toward the beer tents to claim the best seats after waiting for several hours. Members of the first group in line said they had arrived at 7 p.m. on Friday with camping chairs, sleeping bags and emergency blankets. Organizers briefly held back sections of the crowd at the entrance, allowing people onto the grounds in stages and preventing a more concentrated rush. Beer cannot be served until the official opening ceremony at midday, when new Munich Mayor Dominik Krause of the environmentalist Greens is due to tap the first keg with the traditional cry of "O'zapft is" — Bavarian dialect for "It is tapped.