Bavaria Pays Off Angry Lederhosen Fans

The Bavarian state government has given in to threats from lederhosen and dirndl dress wearers: Culture Minister Thomas Goppel said the Bavarian Livery Association and three other organizations that cultivate Bavarian traditions would receive €400,000 ($494,000) from the state's culture fund. With more than 300,000 members, the groups had threatened to boycott Munich's traditional Oktoberfest parade if the state eliminated subsidies to buy new traditional costumes, which amounted to €500,000 last year. Goppel stressed though that the costume subsidies would indeed be abolished in the course of penny-pinching measures. He said continuing to subsidize lederhosen and dirndls at the same time as allowances for the blind were being cut couldn't be justified.