Announcing the resumption of the festival, Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter said he had had a hard time making the decision because of the war in Ukraine, which could make such celebrations seem inappropriate. He said that no coronavirus restrictions would be imposed on visitors as there was no legal basis for doing so. The world-renowned knees-up drew around six million visitors annually before the pandemic.

The festival has been canceled just 26 times in its more than two centuries of existence. Most cancellations were due to war, but cholera outbreaks were to blame twice. It was canceled in 2020 for the first time since World War II after the outbreak of coronavirus.

The festival is to run from September 17 to October 3 and no coronavirus restrictions would be imposed on visitors as there was no legal basis for doing so. Supporters of resuming the event have countered reservations about the appropriateness of the festival during the conflict in Ukraine by maintaining that the Oktoberfest is a contribution to international understanding by virtue of having visitors from so many countries.

According to dw