Malaysia moved a three-day Oktoberfest to a smaller indoor venue today, amid Islamists’ urgings to ban the annual Munich-inspired beer event, organisers said.

The last in a series of Bavarian-style events held by brewers Carlsberg was to be held in front of a shopping mall outside Kuala Lumpur, but was moved to an indoor car park to comply with regulations.

Several Muslim groups this week urged that the Oktoberfest parties be banned altogether, saying they tarnish Malaysia’s Islamic image.

Nasrudin Hassan, a central committee member of the Islamist opposition party PAS, said the event “challenges the sensitivities of Muslim folk”.

The other parties in the series running since Sept 24 were held indoors.

“We would like to reiterate that all Carlsberg Malaysia’s events are strictly for non-Muslim consumers aged 18 and above only,” Carlsberg said on its Facebook page.

- dpa