Talk about the law of unintended consequences. Via Spiegel Online:

What would Munich’s Oktoberfest be without a cloud of smoke hanging in the air? Sloshy, stinky tents, pungent with the smell of a floor covered with stale beer and scraps of food, and the porta-potties set up for the thousands of visitors. It’s not exactly the kind of aroma that’s going to entice a person to tuck into a roasted chicken and sip from a one-liter “Mass” of one of the world’s best beers.

On July 4, voters in Bavaria cast ballots in favor of a statewide ban on smoking that went into effect in August. There is an exception for Oktoberfest until 2011, but organizers want to conduct a test run of the smoking prohibition during the 200th anniversary of the event, which begins next week. Organizers are already worried about the potential for the stench beneath the usual smokey stench.

Ironically, the smell left behind by cigarettes often provided cover for other inevitable odors at a beer festival that runs for nearly three weeks. To fight the putrid smell, some beer tent organizers plan to pour a solution with special bacteria into the floorboards of the tents and other potentially smelly areas, such as the aisles between tables and toilets. They hope that the bacteria, once it seeps into the floor boards, will eat up the offending odors. All that should be left is a subtle smell of soil.

Stale beer, scraps of food and porta-potties. Sounds like a good time.