In Munich, on September 17, after a two-year break due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Oktoberfest beer festival, which has existed for 200 years and is considered the most visited festival in the world, reopened.
It is reported by AFP, writes “European Truth”.
The festival was opened by the Mayor of Munich, Didier Reiter, by opening the first barrel of beer and passing the glass to the Prime Minister of Bavaria, Markus Söder.
The festival will last until October 3, without the requirement of masks and other coronavirus rules.
On the last pre-festival day, representatives of the German Brewers Federation complained to the government about their economic problems due to the side effects of the Russian war against Ukraine, in particular, high energy prices and disruption of traditional supply chains. According to them, without support, hundreds of enterprises in the sphere will be forced to close.
In its 200-year history, Oktoberfest has only been canceled 26 times – due to both world wars, twice due to a cholera outbreak, and in the last two years due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In 2019, the last pre-Covid festival, 6.3 million guests attended and drank over 7.3 million liters of beer. The festival brings in approximately 1.2 billion euros.