Oktoberfest 2020 cancelled: World’s biggest beer festival axed due to coronavirus
OKTOBERFEST has been cancelled this year due to the coronavirus, the German state of Bavaria has confirmed.
Around six million partygoers gather every year for the boozy two-week festival held in Munich.
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This year's Oktoberfest had been scheduled to take place from September 19 to October 4.
The announcement is a huge blow to the city of Munich, which usually makes makes more than €1 billion from the festival.
But Bavarian state premier Markus Soeder told reporters the coronavirus posed too great a risk.
He said: "We have decided the risk is simply too great.
"It hurts, it is a huge shame."
He added that he came to the decision alongside the Mayor of Munich Dieter Reiter.
The rowdy festival is famous for its huge quantities of beer, long wooden tables and oompah bands.
The first Oktoberfest was held in 1810 to mark the marriage of King Ludwig I to Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen.
It has since become the biggest such festival in the world and spawned similar events in and outside of Germany, including one in London.
The news comes as Germany is gradually loosening its strict lockdown, as the country's death toll continues to fall.
The country reopened a number of non-essential shops yesterday as the country saw the lowest coronavirus deaths for two weeks.
German health authorities recorded 110 deaths from Covid-19 overnight, the smallest daily total since the 92 deaths on April 6.
It brings the total death toll to 4,404 - a quarter of the total in neighbouring France and lower than the UK, Italy and Spain.
Stores smaller than 8,600 square feet (800 square metres) were allowed to welcome customers again as long as they adhere to the social distancing measures.
These shops include florists, garages and fashion stores.
Schools remain largely closed but classes about to graduate this summer will gradually resume and universities will be allowed to hold exams in a number of weeks.
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All other lockdown measures including a ban on gatherings of more than two people and large-scale public events will remain in force.
Each state is set to lift the restrictions at their own pace.
In the UK, meanwhile, the lockdown remains in place with restaurants, pubs and most shops shut.
