Erding - The Erdinger have little to celebrate in summer.
Old town festival and autumn festival are canceled.
The only bright spot in July: Sinnflut takes place - albeit very differently than usual.
It was to be expected, but the decision will disappoint many: The old town festival and the autumn festival in Erding will not take place this year either.
This was decided by the city council's festival committee on Tuesday afternoon in a non-public meeting.
At least for the Sinnflut, the beer garden with a stage is in the towel.
The operators are already looking for staff here.
While the old town festival is not allowed to take place for legal reasons, the folk festival committee decided to also cancel the autumn festival. City spokesman Christian Wanninger announced on Wednesday. At the old town festival, Lord Mayor Max Gotz referred to the 13th Bavarian Infection Protection Ordinance, which was valid until July 4th. It bans nationwide "meetings, public festivities, trade fairs and similar events". This includes - very narrowly - the Old Town Festival, which should have taken place on July 2nd and 3rd.
Even at the autumn festival, which traditionally begins at the end of August and lasts ten days, the committee basically had little room for maneuver, explained the mayor.
After the Oktoberfest in Munich, the Gäubodenfest in Straubing and the Rosenheimer Volksfest have already been canceled, “we have no other choice if we don't want to be overrun by crowds”.
Gotz described smaller substitute events, such as those planned in Munich or Dachau, as “legally tricky terrain” because the award criteria for showmen could hardly be specified.
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There will be no full beer tents - like here in 2019 - in Erding this year.
For the second time in a row, the autumn festival is canceled due to corona.
© Archive photo: Thomas Obermeier
The showmen in particular are suffering from the pandemic. For over a year you have been "in a forced slumber", as Gabi Rilke, showman spokeswoman at the autumn festival, put it. The woman from Wartenberg says: “Corona has thrown our whole life upside down.” Instead of 13 folk festivals, at which the family is represented year after year, she now runs a stand with sweets, almonds and crepe on the Wartenberg market square, “so that the ceiling doesn't hit me falls on the head ”. “You can't make a living from it,” says Rilke. But she is happy about the regular customers who like to come over.
Event cancellations were hailed early on until the end of August. It is therefore not surprising that the autumn festival will not take place for the second time in a row. "Now everyone is hoping for the Christmas markets," she knows from colleagues. Many of them have now looked for other jobs to support their families. You work as a truck driver or in construction. And many have to attack their retirement reserves. The insurances for the rides and booths have been shut down in order to save costs, said Rilke.
Weißbräu host Mario Pianka also expected “that we don't need to go into planning this year”. In this respect, he had no costs or effort because of the autumn festival. The cancellation was, of course, a shame, but it was foreseeable, “because the autumn festival has a certain size and dimension. It's not a boys' festival ”.
Meanwhile, Pianka is concentrating on the opening of the Zur Post inn in the old town, which he had already taken over as a tenant last August and which he actually wanted to open in October. After extensive renovations and the forced Corona break, it should start on June 19 - inside and in the beer garden. And in the beer garden of the Erdinger Weißbräu on Langenzeile, he wants to broadcast European championship soccer games. “It's nice that we're open every day. It's a step towards normality, ”says Pianka happily.
In summer, the Erdinger can at least look forward to a large Sinnflut beer garden with a stage.
Peter Feller and Börnie Sparakowski want to offer 1,600 seats on the Volksfestplatz from July 16 to August 1 - a week longer than usual - with a lot of space between the tables.
A traffic light system will count the visitors as they go in and out.
The area is fenced.
There will be a separate market area with stalls, announced Feller, who has been working in close contact with the health department for weeks on the concept in order to comply with all requirements.
At the food stands in both areas, visitors can enjoy culinary delights.
Unlike in previous years, no cocktails and no hard liquor are served.
However, there is also wine, sprizz, non-alcoholic drinks and coffee in the beer garden.
"People want out," says Feller: "We try hard because we believe that people need it too."
