Yesterday's Bayreuth Festival free Open Day - only the second in the festival's history - attracted over 4,000 visitors from all over Germany and beyond.
Amongst the rehearsals and make-up demos, the most popular attraction by far turned out to be the rats from Lohengrin. Four brave souls donned the masks and rubber costumes for the whole afternoon, during which they were photographed "200 to 300 times" said a weary rodent. Visitors were invited to touch the neoprene costumes with their rubber feet and tails - "through our grid masks we could see many happy faces".
Festival spokesman Peter Emmerich said they were pleased with the day's success, and would look at repeating it next year.
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