What a crazy last couple of years. I still remember writing about the 2020 Oktoberfest in Munich being cancelled.
Many were hopeful that, with vaccinations moving along steadily, this festival would return for 2021. I was actually hoping to attend a similar event – the Cannstatter Volksfest in Stuttgart – but hopes for that seem pretty grim now as well.
Clemens Baumgärtner, the Labor and Economic Affairs Officer responsible for the Oktoberfest, said on the Oktoberfest website:
“For a while it looked as if the Oktoberfest could take place this year. Unfortunately, that hope has now been dashed because of a third wave of infection. The decision is correct and reasonable, because no danger to life and limb of the guests may emanate from the Wiesn. That would severely damage our festival and our brand.”
I think this isn’t so much an expectation that COVID will still be rampant in September/October (although it certainly could be) as much as the uncertainty and the Euros that would be lost if cancelled later. Essentially, as I read it, they aren’t convinced “enough” that it’s a go and this was the cutoff time for cancelling before accruing massive costs for the event.
So… Oktoberfest 2021 anyone?
Thoughts?
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