A thread about the cancellation of #Oktoberfest2020.
This is quite a signal from the Bavarian premier, Markus Söder. Cancelling the Oktoberfest is a big deal, but the health risks were found to outweigh the politics - and it feels like the right decision to me. 1/10

The Wies’n, as it’s known here, is such an important part of Munich’s cultural life that it’s influence is impossible to overstate. It begins in September, & concludes on the first Sunday of October (with occasional extentions for public holidays), & normally lasts 16 days 2/10

that's three weekends and the two weeks between. My partner, Munich born-and-bred, barely ever misses a day of this amazing folk festival, and since 2010, when I made my first visit, neither have I. 3/10

It’s a magnificent event - there’s amazingly good beer, traditional Bavarian food, live music, the opportunity to sing silly songs and wear Trachten - Lederhosen for men, Dirndl for women. 4/10

But above all it’s an amazing social event. When you sit down at a table full of strangers it’s expected that you should all make an effort to talk to one another (these are all friends, but you get the picture) 5/10

You do this in any combination of languages and gestures that you can make work. Yes, there’s lots of beer, but getting drunk is not the point for (though it sadly is for a few of the foreign visitors). 6/10

For people who go with the right spirit it’s basically a celebration of common humanity. The festival began in 1810, as a wedding celebration for a princess, and this is only the 25th time it’s been cancelled... 7/10

Previous cancellations were due to: War - the 1866 Austro-Prussian, the 1870 Franco-Prussian, and the two world wars (with hangovers into the first years of peace); 8/10

there were Cholera epidemics in 1854 and 1873; and Hyper-inflation caused the Wies’n to be cancelled in 1923 and 1924. The last one that didn't happen was in 1948. 9/10

This decision puts 2020 in a historically significant category - and it's an entirely appropriate signal that the authorities in Germany are taking the pandemic seriously, and are doing all they can to keep us safe. 10/10