It’s been dug up: Germany’s Oktoberfest opens after 2-year hiatus | Arts & Entertainment

MUNICH (AP) — For the first time since 2019, beer is being served at Munich’s world-famous Oktoberfest.

After three hammer blows and the traditional chant of “O’zapft is” – “it’s been knocked” – Mayor Dieter Wright tapped into the first bucket at noon on Saturday after two years of being arrested. After a forced rest, the celebration officially opened. Coronavirus pandemic.

Oktoberfest usually attracts around 6 million visitors a year to the lively festival grounds of the Bavarian capital. The event was not held in 2020 and 2021 as authorities grappled with unpredictable developments in COVID-19 infections and restrictions.

This year, those concerns have been put on hold. The city announced in late April that Oktoberfest would go ahead, and Reiter said Saturday that “it was a good decision”.

“I’m glad we can finally celebrate together,” Bavarian Premier Marcus Soder said at the opening ceremony. “There’s a lot of people saying, ‘We can, can’t we? Is it right now?’ I just want to say one thing: We’ve got two or three years to come, and no one knows what this winter is going to be like, we need to live fun and power.”

Three hours before Reiter knocked on the first kegs, revelers scrambled to grab seats in the giant beer tent as the festival’s doors opened.

Compared to the last Oktoberfest, they will need bigger pockets, as brewers and tourists will face inflationary pressures.

According to the festival’s official homepage, the price of a 1-liter (2 pint) glass of beer is between 12.60 and 13.80 euros (USD) this year, an increase of about 15 percent compared to 2019.

This year’s 187th Oktoberfest runs until October 3rd.

Soeder told the Muenchner Merkur daily in comments published earlier on Saturday that the number of coronavirus infections could rise after Oktoberfest, but “at the same time, thankfully, we are not measuring the undue stress on hospitals anywhere.”

“This shows that we are in a new phase of corona,” he said, adding that authorities would work to protect the vulnerable but would not stop the celebrations.