Clemens Baumgärtner, the Wiesn boss since 2019, has taken the wind out of the sails of all ambiguities about the Oktoberfest. "The Wiesn will take place," he clarified in a press conference. Recently there has been speculation as to whether there will be corona restrictions and whether the Wiesn should be held at all in times of energy and gas shortages. "We have a difficult environment: Corona, inflation, energy shortages, the Ukraine war," Baumgärtner admitted. "That doesn't make it any easier." Nevertheless, the city of Munich "decided to let the Wiesn take place as we know it".
This also means that there will be no corona restrictions: the control effort “cannot be managed either in terms of personnel, finances, technology or logistics,” explained Baumgärtner. This applies "to 1G as well as to 3G". "A whole range of scenarios were examined as to how this could be done. The result was always costs in the low double-digit million range."
So the conclusion: "We agree (...) that the Wiesn can only take place as we know and appreciate it from 2019. That way and not otherwise," affirmed the Wiesn boss.
Despite inflation, the Oktoberfest prices will not change. "The prices are not going up, even if inflation is galloping," said Baumgärtner. "The beer prices are fixed, and the showmen have also submitted their prices to us. There's no need to worry."
The CSU politician also addressed the shortage of energy and gas. "Just because the Wiesn is taking place, you won't have to sit in the dark at Christmas and turn off the heating," explained Baumgärtner. The electricity consumption of the Wiesn corresponds to 0.6 per mil, the natural gas consumption even only 0.1 per mil of the total consumption in Munich. There are additional savings because the beer gardens will not be heated this year. "The Wiesn will not lead to the lights going out in Munich," he clarified.
The 187th Oktoberfest on the Theresienwiese will take place from September 17 to October 3, 2022.
