Coronavirus: Munich cancels Oktoberfest as risks too high

Blast from the past: People drinking in the Loewenbrau Beer Tent on the Theresienwiese Oktoberfest fairground, in Munich, Germany, on 2 October 2014. (Getty)

Oktoberfest, the world’s biggest beer festival, has been called off in the face of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Oktoberfest runs annually from mid- September until early October in Munich, Bavaria and attracts visitors from all over the world. Even though large events are only banned until 31 August in Germany, the massive beer festival was deemed too risky.

“We want to continue to protect Bavaria,” state premier Markus Söder said at a press conference. Oktoberfest, he said, was the “biggest and most beautiful festival in the world” but the risks were just too great.

Söder said keeping distances and wearing face masks were just not feasible in the huge beer tents on the meadows in central Munich.

Neither was some kind of “half alternative” to the event, he said, referring to the suggestion by some Oktoberfest vendors to hold a pared-down festival just for locals.

Cancelling Oktoberfest, which attracts some 6 million visitors a year, will be a blow to the local economy. According to the City of Munich, the event generated over €1.2bn (£1bn) last year.

Oktoberfest first started in 1810, as a celebration of the wedding of King Ludwig 1. This year will be the first time that it has been cancelled in 70 years, but not the first time it’s been shut down due to a pandemic: it was called off in 1854 and 1873 over cholera.

Chancellor Angela Merkel warned on Monday that Germany was “far from out of the woods” and “still at the beginning of the pandemic.”

Germany has currently over 147,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection, and some 4,800 deaths from the virus.

Read more: Merkel warns 'we mustn’t think for one second that we are safe' as Germany eases restrictions

Although the country is slowly lifting restrictions by allowing smaller shops to open, social distancing rules and bans of groups larger than two in public remain in place for the foreseeable future. The situation is still delicate and the government fears a new spike in infections.

"We have to stay vigilant and disciplined," Merkel said. "It would be a shame if we went into a relapse with our eyes open."

Oktoberfest is the latest in a long list of global events that have been cancelled this year, from huge tech festivals, to car shows, and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.