Pour one out for Oktoberfest.
The annual German celebration scheduled to take place in the fall was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. Organizers for the event joined Bavarian Minister-President Markus Soder and Munich’s Lord Mayor Dieter Reiter in a press conference announcing the decision on Tuesday.
“It is about the biggest and most beautiful festival in the world,” Soder said. “We are living in different times. And living with Corona means living carefully. The greatest sensitivity applies to celebrations.”
Soder added, “It hurts, it is a huge shame.”
Reiter mourned the cancellation, calling the decision a “bitter pill to swallow.”
He added, “It’s a quite sad day for me today. Several hearts are beating in my chest.”
The annual gathering was set to take place from Sept. 19 to Oct. 4. Oktoberfest generates more than $1 billion for Munich and drew 6.3 million visitors in 2019. Reiter noted there are no plans to postpone the next Oktoberfest that is scheduled to start on Sept. 18, 2021.
“We hope that next year we can make it up together!” Reiter said.
The coronavirus has swept across the world, including several large outbreaks in Europe. As of Tuesday, there were nearly 2.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 171,000 related deaths.
