I’m not sure I know what “normal” is anymore, but if things were normal, today at promptly noon, Oktoberfest 2021 would begin — and end on Sunday October 3rd. The dates for Oktoberfest are always different, but it always starts in late September and ends on the first Sunday of October… of course, like everything, there are some exceptions.
I’ve only been to Oktoberfest in Germany once, but boy, it is one big party! Both the opening and closing ceremonies are awesome. I was fortunate enough to attend the opening ceremony on my only visit, but I couldn’t get in to the closing ceremony. I attended Oktoberfest in Frankfurt, but the biggest, and supposedly best, is held in Munich. During the Munich opening ceremony, the Lord Mayor of Munich taps the first keg and shouts “O’Zapf is!” to let everyone — at least those who speak German — know that it’s time to get to drinking.
Some of the best news about Oktoberfest is that it is, and always has been, 100% admission free.
The bad news, as you may have guessed, is that Oktoberfest 2021 has been officially cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
But the spirit lives on — beer lovers will find a way. You know what they say…. you can’t buy happiness, but you can buy beer…. and that’s kind of the same thing.
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