Germans are redefining the normal purpose of a motorway by laying on an enormous party on one of the country's busiest stretches of "Autobahn". At least 1m people are expected to drop in on a banquet being held on Sunday on a 60km stretch of motorway.
Only pedestrians and cyclists are now allowed on this part of the A40/B1.
The event is part of cultural celebrations in the western Ruhr area, Germany's former industrial heartland.
The party organisers said they had given away 20,000 tables for "the longest banquet in the world" in the middle of the motorway between the cities of Dortmund and Duisburg.
People are set to eat, drink, dance and perform plays along the traffic artery until Sunday evening.
Organisers also expected newly-weds and their guests to sit down at the world's longest wedding banquet.
One resident living next to the A40 in Essen, Waltraud Weber, told German public broadcaster WDR that she was pleased to have had an unusually quiet night. "Now we will go and party with our children", Ms Weber said.
At midday German media reported that the A40 temporarily had to be closed to cyclists due to traffic jams and overcrowding.
The party, called Still Life, is part of the region's celebrations as Cultural Capital of Europe 2010.
Thousands of people have gathered in London to take part in the annual Pride celebrations.
The event, which celebrates lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender culture, is one of the largest of its kind in the world.
This year it is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Gay Liberation Front, a pressure group which organised the city's first Pride parade.
The parade began in Baker Street and finished at Trafalgar Square.
