This Small Town Is Getting an All-You-Can-Drink Beer Fountain

Nestled in the heart of the Lower Savinja Valley is the little Slovenian town of Žalec, where tourists can visit a nearby Roman Necropolis, a carsic cave called "Hell", and, in the near future, Europe's first "beer fountain."

Also known as the "Valley of Green Gold," this region of Slovenia is famous for its ample hops supply and beer production, which is why municipal officials in Žalec have decided to greenlight a huge fountain which will spew free beer, according to the BBC.

In addition to attracting beer-loving tourists, the town will generate income by providing them with three 10-ounce "commemorative mugs" for the low price of six euros, meaning that visitors will not have to resort to Homer-esque hands-free celebrations of beer drinking.

While on the surface, at least, this seems like a surefire way of attracting tourists, the announcement of the Slovenian beer fountain has already made ripples in Croatian and Serbian media.

Back in Slovenia, the beer fountain was not without opposition. The fountain comes with a hefty 340,000 euro price tag, half of which will be financed by private donors, meaning that the city council has to fork over 140,000 euros of taxpayer money in a municipality which is home to only 4,878 residents.

Despite an extraordinary city council meeting attempting to scrap the project, opposers were eventually out-voted by two-thirds of fellow councilmen. As for Janko Kos, the mayor of Žalec, whose crest even has a hops bud on it, it was a no-brainer. "It's true the fountain won't be cheap. But it's a development project, a tourism product," he told a local website.

That's a small price to pay for free beer.

So, to the people of Žalec, Na zdravje!