07 October 2011, Friday / BJÖRN FINKE, İSTANBUL
As the world’s biggest beer festival, Oktoberfest, closed it doors on Monday in Munich, İstanbul is set to hold its own Oktoberfest at Parkorman, close to the Darüşşafaka metro station, this weekend.
The event, which will be held on Sunday, will bring German culture and tradition to İstanbul according to its organizers, the İstanbul-based entertainment and gastronomy company KafePi. From 12 p.m. to midnight visitors will be able to taste several kinds of beer and German food.
The teetotal nongovernmental organization Turkish Green Crescent (Yesilay) has criticized the event, saying that it promotes the consumption of beer in Turkey. Nevertheless, Beste Özdeşlik from KafePi`s marketing department told Today’s Zaman that the organizers have not met with political resistance to the plan.
In the past, under the name Oktoberfest, İstanbul played host to some small-sized beer parties, but the event on Sunday is the first celebration of beer of its size. According to Özdeşlik, the event can host up to 10,000 guests. At small Bavarian-style booths and at 10 bars, they can buy food, for example Bretzels and German-style sausages as well as Turkish and international beers like Carlsberg and Becks. At the original Oktoberfest in Munich, which dates back to 1810, beer is sold in one-liter glasses. Four bands will play at the fest and a Bavarian folk music group will be on stage from four p.m. onwards.
What is relatively new for İstanbul is already well known in Antalya, where the third Oktoberfest took place in September. Last year, the city’s mayor came under heavy criticism for promoting the consumption of beer since the municipality supported the event, where one young man died after he drank too much alcohol.
via todayszaman
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