Folk festival
Oktoberfest in summer? Economy Minister advertises
Can you celebrate Oktoberfest in summer? Photo: Tobias Hase / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Carnival parades in May and Oktoberfest in midsummer. Everyone wants to celebrate corona in the summer, but does that really make sense?
The city of Munich is considering bringing the Oktoberfest forward to prevent it from being canceled again due to the pandemic.
The economic advisor and Wiesn boss Clemens Baumgärtner said on Tuesday that a working group of the city council groups would meet in the coming week to sound out the arguments. He will then make a recommendation.
Bavaria’s Minister of Economic Affairs, Hubert Aiwanger, told the “Bild” that the Corona situation was much more relaxed in summer. “It should therefore be seriously considered moving parties with larger gatherings more into the summer.”
The meadow hosts are skeptical
Wiesn boss Baumgärtner told the German Press Agency: “For me personally, an Oktoberfest in July is hardly conceivable. And the summer holidays in Bavaria are in August. ” Breweries, innkeepers, showmen and the police would then have to make completely new arrangements.
The spokesman for the Oktoberfest hosts, Peter Inselkammer, would prefer an Oktoberfest on the date actually planned from September 17 to October 3, with access only for those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered. “Already by tradition – it’s called Oktoberfest,” he told the dpa. But if an earlier appointment made sense because of the pandemic, it could be discussed. The erection of the tents usually starts in mid-July. “It’s enough if the decision is made in May,” said the landlord’s spokesman. But a decision six weeks in advance is not enough.
The largest folk festival in the world
Ultimately, Lord Mayor Dieter Reiter and Prime Minister Markus Söder will decide on the date. In the Infection Protection Ordinance, the Free State determines whether folk festivals are allowed to take place. In 2020 and 2021 they were canceled in May.
Before that, the world’s largest folk festival with six million visitors brought the economy 1.2 billion euros in annual sales. The guests spent a good half a billion euros on overnight stays alone. Almost half a billion stayed in the marquees and rides.
Whether a safe Oktoberfest with 2G rules can take place in September 2022, “has to be reassessed in April or May,” said Baumgärtner. Reiter told the “Abendzeitung”: “When the Oktoberfest takes place, there will be no isolation or gaps in the tents, so you can definitely get that Oktoberfest feeling.”