BERLIN — Germany’s iconic Oktoberfest beer festival will once again take place in Munich in 2022 after being cancelled two years running due to the coronavirus, the city’s mayor said Friday.
Dieter Reiter, the mayor of the Bavarian capital, said the popular beer festival will be held without restrictions from Sept. 17 to Oct. 3 – Germany’s national day.
The world-renowned knees-up drew around six million visitors annually before the pandemic. It was cancelled in 2020 for the first time since World War II after the outbreak of the virus.
The festival, usually held between September and October, was cancelled again in 2021 as Germany battled consecutive deadly waves of the virus.
The Oktoberfest, first held in 1810 in honour of the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria to Princess Therese, has been cancelled dozens of times during its more than 200-year history due to wars and pandemics.