Munich set for Oktober with no fest
Print Edition
Germany鈥檚 Oktoberfest, the world鈥檚 largest folk festival, where revelers from all over the world gather to swig large quantities of beer, has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the southern state of Bavaria announced yesterday.
Around 6 million party-goers gather every year in Munich for the two-week long festivities, held in packed tents with long wooden tables and oompah bands, which makes more than 1 billion euros (US$1.08 billion) for the city.
鈥淲e have decided the risk is simply too high,鈥 state premier Markus Soeder told reporters at a press conference. 鈥淚t hurts, it鈥檚 such a pity,鈥 he added.
鈥淲e have experienced that the apr猫s-ski in Ischgl, various beer festivals for example, or even carnival events were unfortunately virus hubs,鈥 said Soeder.
This is why the greatest sensitivity applies to public festivals. 鈥淎s long as there is no vaccine, as long as there is no medicine, special care must be taken.鈥
This year鈥檚 Oktoberfest had been scheduled for September 19 to October 4.
Some areas in Germany have started to ease lockdown measures introduced last month to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, but big events are still banned until August 31.
On Monday, Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans to be disciplined to avoid a relapse after some improvement in the case numbers. Confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany have risen by 1,785 to 143,457, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed earlier, a slight increase in the number of new infections after two days of declines. Some 4,598 people have died from the virus, according to official registration numbers.
Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter said he was sorry to disappoint the 2 million people who are expected to travel from abroad for the Oktoberfest and that it was a big blow to Bavarians, who don traditional clothes for one of the highlights of their year.
The first Oktoberfest was held in 1810 in honor of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig鈥檚 marriage.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
