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Disappointment will ripple around the world as the news spreads that the 2021 Munich Oktoberfest has, once again, been cancelled. Officials in Bavaria cite the ongoing pandemic and concerns over the spreading of the virus as the reason this historic event will be cancelled for the second year in a row.
The 200-year-old German celebration, known for its beer-drinking and sausage-eating traditions, draws tourists from all over the world each year, and it has only been cancelled a handful of times outside of the COVID-19 crisis: during World War II and the three years following and during a cholera outbreak in 1854.
In coming to this decision, German officials worry about the unknown time at which the pandemic will let up and the high risk holding the festival would create. The nature of the classic beer halls, in which social distancing is difficult to enforce, makes the risk even greater.
Lovers of Oktoberfest will have to keep the lederhosen and dirndl in their closets for another year, looking more hopefully to 2022 for the festival to commence again.
