Revellers from across the world braved the rain as they made their way to the annual Oktoberfest in Munich for the start of the famous German event.
The world’s most famous beer festival, which kicked off today and runs until October 3, is expected to welcome more than six million people to the Bavarian capital over course of the event.
Both locals and tourists alike were greeted with downpours as they made their way to the Theresienwiese, an open space in the Munich which is used to host Oktoberfest, but partygoers soon seemed to perk up as the event officially opened at 11am on Saturday.
The festival starts with the procession of landlords, breweries and showmen opening the event on the Theresienwiese, an open plot of land used to hold the event, at 11am on Saturday
A group of young men grab a beer mug after the official opening of the Oktoberfest in Munich
Three female visitors dressed in costumes resembling traditional Bavarian attire hold up half-drunk steins of beer at the Munich festival
Four girls holding beers in costumes based around Bavarian attire forget about the bad weather outside and take refuge drinking steins inside a tent
Waitresses carry a number of steins filled with Bavarian beer as the annual beer festival kicks off
Visitors celebrate the opening of the Oktoberfest in the Schottenhamel beer tent with the first served ‘Mass’, a one litre beer. The Schottenhamel tent is the oldest of Oktoberfest and is where the official opening ceremony takes place
Oktoberfest is the world’s largest beer celebration and typically draws more than six million visitors during its three-week run. Revellers drink beer in the Hacker Pschor tent (left) while two men dressed in traditional yellow shirts and black trousers enjoy their beer as crowds look on
A group of eager people waiting to get into Oktoberfest run to get a spot at the arena gates while security guards try to calm the bustling crowds
Other more patient revellers wearing ponchos emblazoned with the German flag wait for the opening of the festival
A group of girls enjoy one of the fairground rides on the 31 hectare grounds in Theresienwiese. The event has a mixture of traditional and modern rides, including a ferris wheel, toboggan and Olympia looping
A women wearing the traditional dirndl (left), which is mostly worn by women in Austria and Bavaria, is seen standing up on what could be a table or stool as she drinks a stein. Meanwhile a man in traditional lederhosen (right) holds up his finished beer while an older gentleman tries to calm him down
A group of young women enjoy a stein at the Schottenhamel beer tent at the opening of the Munich festival. Oktoberfest beer is a lager or Märzenbier brewed by Munich breweries for the festival with an alcohol level around 6-7 per cent, making it slightly stronger than normal beer
A waitress carries six beer mugs during the opening of the 184th Oktoberfest beer festival in Munich
Oktoberfest is now celebrated across the world, as entertainers in costumes take part in the street parade in Melbourne, Australia (left). However the weather in Munich is not as sunny, with one woman attempting to cover her hair as she makes her way through the festival
Visitors cheer inside the Hofbraeu tent during the opening of Oktoberfest. The Hofbraeu tent is the largest tent with over 6,000 seats inside, 3,000 outside, and 1,000 standing tables, making it a favourite with locals and tourists alike
A group of men and women wearing costumes based on traditional Bavarian attire group raise their glasses together