Beer lovers around the world are not likely to attend one of the largest beer festivals, Oktoberfest.
This is because Germany’s Oktoberfest is unlikely to take place in 2020 because of coronavirus pandemic.
Bavarian State Premier,
Markus Söder, made this known in a tweet on Tuesday, saying “risks are too high.”
Oktoberfest takes place annually in late September.
But this year, Söder tweeted the festival which was supposed to end on October 4th would be too dangerous “as long as there is no vaccine”.
Even with masks and social distancing, the risk would be too high, according to him.
He stated that “living with the coronavirus means living carefully”.
The festival, which dates back to 1810, was scheduled to take place from September 19th until October 4th.
Around six million visitors in total attend the event, also known as Wiesn, in Munich every year.
The local economy generated more than €1.2 billion thanks to Oktoberfest in 2018, according to the economic department of the Bavarian state capital.
Söder, of the CSU, and Munich’s Mayor Dieter Reiter, of the Social Democrats, announced in a press conference that the event was cancelled this year.
“We want to continue to protect Bavaria,” Söder said. 2020 is “a year, unfortunately, without Wiesn,” he added.
By Melvin Tarlue