Oktberfest Horse Jigsaw Puzzle Online

Have fun solving this online jigsaw puzzle of a beautiful long-maned horse dressed in splendid finery at Munich's Oktoberfest in Germany.

The prelude to the Oktoberfest begins with a parade of teams of beautifully decorated horses, like the one shown in our jigaw puzzle, pulling carriages and barrels from local breweries and pub landlords.These are accompanied by bands who will later play their music in the festival tents.

Once the parade has travelled through the city centre to the festival ground, at exactly 12.00 midday the Mayor of Munich attends the oldest Oktoberfest tent, known as the Schottenhamel tent, which dates all the way back to 1867. Here he uses a 5 pound heavy wooden hammer to strike a metal tap into a wooden beer barrel with the call “O'zapft is!”, which means “It is tapped!” At this cry, the Oktoberfest is officially open. The Bavarian Prime Minister traditionally receives the first measure of beer.

Following the tapping in the Schottenhamel tent, a twelve gun salute is delivered. This is the sign that the other landlords can start serving drinks. Then the first barrels are also tapped in the other festival tents and beer is served to the awaiting thirsty visitors.

Each year tension mounts with regard to how many blows the Mayor will need to strike the tap into the barrel before the first beer flows. Bets are even laid on the outcome. The best achievement is two blows by Mayor Christian Ude in 2005, who also repeated his feat during each of the years 2008 to 2012. In 2007 Mayor Ude needed three blows. However, as many as 19 blows were required by Mayor Wimmer, in 1950.