Europe

More Than 6 Million Tourists Expected to Attend Oktoberfest 2022 in Germany

After two years of inactivity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the German festival for beer lovers, Oktoberfest, will be held in Munich, from September 17 to October 3, during which more than six million tourists are expected to come.

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According to the official website of the festival, there will be no Coronavirus restrictions imposed; therefore, there is no limitation on the people’s capacity, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

“Seen from the political situation, a cancellation of Oktoberfest 2022 is not possible. Ultimately, it’s up to everyone to decide for themselves anyway whether and how much they want to celebrate at the Volksfest,” Lord Mayor Dieter Reiter has explained.

He also said he was looking forward to the festival and wished a great time to those that will attend.

However, there are some modifications that visitors should keep in mind. More specifically, the city council has decided that the new opening hours will be 9 a.m. during the weekdays, which is one hour earlier compared to the previous festivals.

In addition, the tents will be open for 30 minutes more, until 10:30 p.m, while the Bräurosl Peter Reicher, where the festival will be held, will have the capacity of accommodating 8,250 people inside, and another 560 guests can sit in the covered outdoor space.

Regardless, the Mayor has previously said that his country hosting a festival at these times, as Ukraine is dealing with a military attack by Russia, isn’t the most convenient.

“I cannot personally imagine happily enjoying the festival atmosphere while in Ukraine, in our partner city of Kyiv, people are dying every day in an inhumane war not even two and half hours away by air. Everyone ultimately will have to decide for themselves whether they’re in the mood for celebrating,” Reiter had said.

The country is also dealing with an energy crisis, as it is trying to reduce its dependency on Russian gas and oil by at least two per cent.

Usually, there are over six million visitors, with 7.8 million litres of beer served by a staff of 13,000 people. The roughly two-week-long festival generates an estimated €1.23 billion for the local economy.

According to data from the Munich Oktoberfest website, 6.3 million visitors were recorded in 2019, with 7.3 million litres being consumed.

In addition, there were about 8,000 permanent employees and 5,000 changing employees in the festival for the time being, with the beer price starting from €10.80 to €11.80, while in 2018, the beer price point was €10.70 to €11.50.

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