Germany may be beginning to ease its lockdown measures but the beer won’t be flowing at Oktoberfest this year as organizers have already canceled the enormous folk festival despite it not taking place for another five months.
The massive Bavarian festival in Munich attracts around six million visitors every year but the beer halls will be quiet this September and October as authorities officially canceled the Volksfest due to the coronavirus on Tuesday.
This year’s Oktoberfest had been scheduled to take place from September 19 to October 4. The two-week long event is held in packed tents where revellers sit side-by-side at long wooden tables while enjoying beer, oompah bands and women in traditional Bavarian dress. Hardly ideal conditions for containing the spread of a virus.
The cancellation will come as a huge blow to the local economy as the festival generates more than €1 billion ($1.08 billion) for Munich each year.
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