MUNICH (dpa) – A decision by authorities in Munich to go ahead with the Oktoberfest despite the terrorist attacks in the United States has sparked a bitter debate.
Fans of the Oktoberfest, which was opening on Saturday (September 22), are evenly split into two factions. One camp pragmatically calls for a return to normal life and says letting the Oktoberfest go ahead will send an important message.The other camp says a huge beer party such as the Oktoberfest simply cannot go ahead in these troubled times.Munich’s town hall has been flooded with letters from both camps.But the decision has been taken and the Bavarian beerfest is expected to open on Saturday, September 22, with unprecedented security measures in place.Oktoberfest organizers and the police say they are leaving nothing to chance. Munich Police President Roland Koller says all precautions are being taken to avoid potential incidents.This includes dealing with “copycat pranksters and psychopaths” who might issue threats designed to send Oktoberfest visitors into a panic.Police and security services have been called on to be vigilant, Koller said, but added that the police are unable to guarantee absolute security.Local politicians have also squared off on the issue of whether or not to open the annual beerfest. Munich Mayor Christian Ude of the Social Democrats supports the decision, while his coalition partner, Hep Monatzeder of the Greens, is solidly against it.Monatzeder said TV images of beer-swilling Bavarians celebrating while Americans retrieve the dead from the ruins of the World Trade Centre would be “irreverent and macabre”.“I understand the desire for life to return to normal,” Monatzeder told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. “But does normalcy have to start with a happy beer festival?”Ude agrees that there is a “pall” over the Oktoberfest, but warns that “public life cannot grind to a halt” as a result. He says that a “quiet” Oktoberfest is appropriate now.This means that there will be no colourful ceremony to open the first keg of beer, no fireworks, and the music will be more low-key than usual to avoid images of merrymakers locking arms in drunken bursts of song.The 35,000 marks (18,000 dollars) budgeted for the fireworks display will go to the American victims of the terrorist attacks.The publicans and food sellers were all happy to agree to a low- key Oktoberfest. Had the festival been cancelled, this would have meant financial ruin for many.They have all thrown their support behind Ude, but look forward to the Oktoberfest with mixed feelings. Willy Heide, spokesman of the publicans, said many people are still in shock and don’t really feel like going.He believes older people may stay away, but thinks more young people will come.Bookings for the Oktoberfest are down in the wake of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. Some 15 per cent of those Americans who had planned to come the Oktoberfest have cancelled, according to the head of Munich’s foreign tourism board, Gabriele Weishaeupl.Reservations for tables in the large Oktoberfest tents are also down, said Weishaeupl, as U.S. firms and their subsidiaries cancel their planned parties.Heide – whose family have had a tent at the Oktoberfest for 65 years – says that despite the decision to go ahead, this year will be difficult.“I don’t have any security concerns; it’s just that the mood is pretty depressed,” he added. Heide is confident they will get through somehow.Monatzeder, of the Greens, has vowed not to go to the opening and to avoid the Oktoberfest altogether. Numerous politicians and local and national celebrities have said they will follow suit.
