The Volksfest season is canceled this year due to the corona pandemic. What may be a painful situation for visitors means an extreme situation that threatens the existence of hosts and showmen. Without income, it gets tight.
In the end it was no longer a surprise that the Miesbacher Volksfest will be canceled this year. However, the announcement of the inevitable was a shock. “You think that's not true,” says Sabine Kollmann from Kirchheim (Munich district), who, together with her husband Bernhard, organizes the folk festival in the district town. "This affects us very much, especially since the Oktoberfest in Munich is also canceled."
Because for the folk festival hosts and showmen this means: This year nothing is earned. Bernhard Kollmann does not believe that after August 31 - until this day large events have so far been prohibited - any autumn festivals could save anything: “The entire season is canceled, there is no income. I am at a loss. We now hope for the rescue package. "
If there is no help from the state for showmen, the loss of earnings must be bridged with loans. But that was also not a good solution, “because you have to pay back the money. And whether there will be popular festivals again in 2021 is currently still uncertain. The whole situation is amazing - even for the restaurateurs ”.
Actually, the season would start for the Kollmanns and their bumper cars: first the spring festival in Munich, then Wasserburg, Grafing, Miesbach at the end of June and then Bruckmühl. In addition, the summer festival in Munich's Olympic Park, the autumn festival in Erding and the Oktoberfest with the wheat beer garden. The employees who have been accompanying the Kollmanns for over ten years have also been affected. "We also have to send money to our seasonal workers," says Bernhard Kollmann. "We want them to be there again at least next year." It should also be clear: health comes first.
Miesbach's landlords are also hard hit by the cancellation. "We have fully focused on our independence," says landlady Yvonne Kurz from Kleinpienzenau. Anian Kurz quit his job three years ago, she quit her a year ago. "We do our work with passion. There is no other way. ”In addition, the homework for the Volksfest in Miesbach has already been done: the program is ready, the chapels are booked, the flyers are printed. "Unfortunately we had to cancel the music."
The second mainstay, the party service, is also canceled because there are no more parties. In order to make ends meet, they both want to work on picking hops in Holledau. "That keeps us afloat," says the landlady. "We have to be patient and hope for 2021."
Sabine Kollmann is not afraid that the folk festival tradition could take a back seat through the break. "That will not happen. The folk festivals are too deeply rooted for that. ”Rather the opposite is the case. “After Corona, people have a lot of catching up to do. They want to have fun, come out and experience variety again. "Yvonne Kurz sees it similarly:" We have made it our plan: next year it will be all the more grave for that. "
ddy