Oktoberfest 2021?

Oktoberfest, Cannstatter Wasen and other beer events in Germany are really up in the air. To date, they (various cities) all plan on having these events but frankly nobody knows what will happen. I just returned from Germany, and things are moving in the right direction but vaccinations are moving too slowly. My best guess would be: everything up until June is probably not going to happen. August seems more promising, and September/October is a real possibility. There is a very fine line between yay and nay, in my opinion. Holding Oktoberfest for locals only is not very likely - but again: it all depends on so many factors, how well the vaccinations are moving along, whether there will be new mutations with immune escape, etc. etc. Politicians in Germany are currently discussing the option to allow individuals with proof of full vaccination to return to normal activity. In my opinion there is a real possibility that will materialize.

 

I am hopeful that we will be back to "mostly normal" by the end of 3Q 2021, which means it could happen. The Germans are a cautious folk, only time will tell.

 

Really cannot see this happening this year.

 

Germany has a national election in September which could make politicians more cautious about allowing the staging of big events.

 

Whatever our individual opinions or political stances may be, the US doesn't have a great reputation internationally with how Covid has been handled. I'm not personally putting much effort into planning any international travel for 2021 - I'm just not sure that certain countries are going to be super excited to welcome back Americans just so they can fight with us about masks. And if any group of people will try to get away with fake vaccine cards just to go on a vacation, it's probably going to be us Americans.

 

I'm not so concerned about Oktoberfest as I wouldn't be going anyway, but I had planned on visiting the Kerstbierfest in Essen (BE) in December.

A month or two ago I was fairly certain that both would be on this year. Now I am not so sure. Yes by then hopefully a big chunk of the population will be vaccinated, but it is looking like the current vaccines are less effective with the new variants (BTW, I wish Dr Fauci would stop saying things like "the mutants are coming" -- makes be feel live we're living in a low budget SciFi movie ) The current vaccines may keep one out of the hospital with the new variants but there could still be lots of community spread, so that means masks and distancing.

Last year, when we pulled the plug on our December trip I told the folks "If you look up the list of things not to do, an indoor beer festival pretty much does all of them, except loud singing" -- and Oktoberfest hits that one was well

So I'm hopeful, but I won't be placing any non-refundable deposits

 

I bet they go for it

 

Something massive like Oktoberfest? Likely not, considering how massively international it has been. I would expect provincial festivals with significantly less global prominence to continue, however.