The largest annual festival in North America, and the second largest in the world, is celebrated each October in the twin cities of Kitchener-Waterloo, southwestern Ontario. Called Oktoberfest, the nine-day festival, named the “Number One Tourist Event in Canada,” 1998, by the American Bus Association, is widely known for its spirit of Gemuetlichkeil. Founded, 1968, Oktoberfest features all the fun and flavour of the original Munich Oktoberfest in Germany. Enthusiastic revellers, in excess of 700,000, watch day-long parades; eat schnitzel, roasted pigtails, bratwurst and sauerkraut; drink suds from colourful beer steins in the many Festhallen; dance in banner bedecked halls to the brassy strains of oompah bands; and visit the numerous cultural centres celebrating Canada's diversity, in general, Germany's heritage, in particular. In this view, the mascot of Oktoberfest, Onkel Hans, greets the enthusiastic crowds, lining the streets of Kitchener-Waterloo’s Oktoberfest, 1998. [Photo, courtesy Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest Inc.]