Oktoberfest Not to be Held This Year
The preparations for the world's largest beer festival, which is held annually in the capital of Bavaria, Munich, were wrapped in uncertainty. Public gatherings are banned in Germany in the upcoming months due to coronvirus.
The 187th Oktoberfest was scheduled for September 19 through October 4.
Markus Soeder, the Minister President of Bavaria, who is traditionally the first in line for a beer at the festival, announced the cancellation on Tuesday.
– It hurts, it's incredibly sad – Soeder said at a press conference jointly held with the mayor of Munich, Dieter Reiter.
Both officials stated that they hoped that the 2021 festival would be organized.
Around six million people usually attend Oktoberfest, which attracts visitors from all corners of the world. They fill out the tents where the finest Munich beer flows.
Soeder and Reiter pointed out that the risk of the pandemic worsening was especially high due to the large number of international guests at the event. The mayor of Munich said that they made up 30% of the total number of guests.
– Large masses of people also gather in front of the tents and in the city streets, which means that it would be hard for the mandatory distance of 1.5 meters to be maintained.
Reiter called it “a sad day” and emphasized that the region's economy would suffer as a result of the cancellation and that restaurants, hotels and taxi drivers would be the most affected.
In 2019, the income from the festival amounted to around EUR 1.23 billion.
This is not the first cancellation of Oktoberfest. It was first canceled in 1854 and then in 1873, due to a cholera epidemic, and the festival was frequently not held in wartime, dpa reports.
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