ROSENHEIM (AFP).- Rosenheim was awash with lederhosen and dirndl dresses as some 9,000 lovers of traditional Bavarian costumes descended on the southern German town for the biggest annual festival of its kind in the region.

With temperatures soaring to 33 degrees celsius (91 fahrenheit) the men paraded in the traditional embroidered leather shorts with woollen jackets and long socks while the women, despite the heat, turned out in the full dirndl look of corsets, bodices, lace shirts and aprons.

"It's certainly hot, but in the mountains too it can be hot, we're used to it," said a smiling Marie-Luise Koller, a retiree who has been taking part in the festival for 50 years and for whom the traditional Bavarian peasant dress is like a second skin.

"We start wearing it as children, for important festivities," she explained.

The participants paraded for two hours through the streets of central Rosenheim, south of Munich, encouraged by crowds of onlookers and local bands.

Peter Feldschmidt, head of the organising committee, said the event dates back to 1890.

Most of those taking part were speaking the regional Bavarian dialect rather than German.

When they had completed their march through the town they settled down in huge tents decked out in the blue and white colours of Bavaria to enjoy another great regional tradition: beer drinking.



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