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Oktoberfest to return after pandemic break

Germany's Oktoberfest beer festival will return this year after a two-year absence.

Germany's Oktoberfest beer festival will return this year after a two-year absence. Photo: EPA

Germany’s annual Oktoberfest, the world’s largest beer festival, will take place this year without any coronavirus restrictions after being cancelled for the past two years due to the pandemic.

“There will be an unrestricted (festival), which will hopefully give a lot of people a lot of pleasure,” , Munich mayor Dieter Reiter told a news conference on Friday, adding that he had instructed the festival’s management to go ahead “without delay and without restrictions”.

The Oktoberfest will be held from September 17 to October 3.

Reiter, who said he did not come to his decision lightly due to the pandemic as well as the war in Ukraine, added that there remained the possibility Oktoberfest could be cancelled if government officials reinstate pandemic measures.

“I hope that the situation will not come to a head in the autumn,” he said.

Oktoberfest usually attracts about six million visitors to Munich every year, with many travelling from abroad. Revellers sit at long communal tables to swig beer, eat sausages, pretzel or pork knuckle, and listen to oompah bands.

-Reuters

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