Will Oktoberfest 2021 get cancelled or go ahead?
The question of whether or not Oktoberfest 2021 is going to be canceled is a commonly asked one. There’s so much riding on the answer!
Unfortunately, at this point we still don’t know the fate of this year’s Oktoberfest celebrations in Munich. However, we do know the following.
Oktoberfest 2021 updates
As of right now, we do not have a definitive answer as to whether or not Oktoberfest 2021 will happen. But the good news is that we are definitely close to one!
Because of the lengthy process of constructing the festival grounds (and about a million other tasks), the decision as to whether Oktoberfest 2021 will be canceled or not is expected to come sooner rather than later.
We could know the fate of Oktoberfest 2021 as early as April, but Munich’s mayor has said we’ll definitely have an answer by May at the latest. The official announcement that Oktoberfest 2020 had been canceled came on April 21st that year.
What Munich is saying
Update: March 29, 2021
The Lord Mayor of Munich Dieter Reiter said in a recent interview: “I wouldn’t place any bets on an Oktoberfest in 2021.” Rising Covid-19 cases in Germany have led him and other top officials to step back on their initial optimism.
They are still hopeful that cases will decline and vaccinations will speed up in time before any official announcements have to be made.
Update: March 1, 2021
At the beginning of 2021, the Lord Mayor of Munich Dieter Reiter commented on the current state of things saying he would not consider a “stripped-down” version of Oktoberfest. In other words, Oktoberfest 2021 will be the same great festival we all know and love, or it won’t happen it all.
He, and others like the landlords and breweries, feel certain Covid health and safety protocols such as restricting admissions, limiting tables, etc. would “permanently damage the image and uniqueness of Oktoberfest.”
Read the official statement here (use Google translate for English)
Likewise, in mid-January, the head of Oktoberfest and Munich economic advisor Clemens Baümgartner told a local radio station: “We assume that there will be an Oktoberfest this year.” (source) We’ll prost to that!
Where we are now
So, though we still don’t have any definitive answers to the big question, we do have some insight from Munich’s decision makers as well as the comfort of knowing we’ll have an answer soon.
For a comprehensive guide on navigating the waters of an Oktoberfest 2021 cancelation, check out this post ↓↓↓↓↓
>>> Will Oktoberfest 2021 take place? The Info you need to know <<<
Additional resources
- For local updates on Oktoberfest-related topics and news, check out dw.com
- The official website for the Munich Oktoberfest
