If there is a folk festival in Penzberg this year, it will probably be at the usual time.
Unlike in Munich, where it was recently considered moving the Oktoberfest to the summer, this does not seem to be an option in the mining town.
But what are the chances for the Penzberger Wiesn 2022?
Penzberg
– After there was no Oktoberfest in Munich due to the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, there has been a debate for some time about whether the Oktoberfest should not be brought forward to the summer because of Corona.
Among other things, Bavaria's Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger (free voters) said at the beginning of January that the corona situation was much more relaxed in summer.
Which specifications will apply is still completely open
According to city hall spokesman Thomas Sendl, the city of Penzberg has not yet started planning for the 2022 festival. "That wasn't on our agenda yet," said Sendl when asked. However, there are no considerations to bring the event, which traditionally begins on the last Friday in August, forward to June or July. The town hall spokesman was also skeptical that such a transfer would make sense for Penzberg. He assumes that the traditional date at the end of August will remain. There have not yet been any talks between the city and landlord Christian Fahrenschon about the Penzberger Wiesn 2022. However, the landlord had already signaled that he would open his marquee again this year in Penzberg. Under which specifications - i.e. 3G, 2G or 2G plus - could the celebrations take place?Sendl does not know how to say at this point in time.
Possible access rules would depend on the development of the pandemic and the rules then in force.
But maybe G-rules are no longer necessary.
"We all hope that the situation will relax," said Sendl.
When asked by the local newspaper, festival host Christian Fahrenschon confirmed his intention to work with the city again this year and to organize a folk festival in Penzberg.
The first plans for folk festivals in the region - including the one in Penzberg - were already underway in his company.
For example, the tenders for the operators of the rides and booths have already taken place - even if that is not easy, because: "At the moment you don't know what you're up to."
Festwirt is planning a "normal" Penzberger Wiesn
According to Fahrenschon, it is “bad” that the industry is currently unable to assess how the pandemic will develop and what requirements and bans will arise from this for the showman guild. At the moment, however, he has no choice but to "plan normally" for all his events - including the folk festival in Penzberg.
These plans are made more difficult by the fact that many service and kitchen staff are basically willing to help with the events again. The seasonal workers, many of whom had to look for a new job because of the pandemic, are often not willing to contractually guarantee their cooperation. Because they were afraid that the events would have to be canceled after all, so they wouldn't earn any money, "they don't sign the usual employment contracts," says Fahrenschon.
He emphasizes that the pandemic and its restrictions have hit the showmen badly. This was also shown in his tenders for the upcoming folk festivals in the region. Because he received "about 60 percent fewer applications than usual". Especially in the field of amusement rides, companies have stopped or have migrated to other federal states where the requirements are different than in Bavaria, for example to Baden-Württemberg.
But despite the current uncertainty, Fahrenschon is hoping, in view of the development of the Omikron variant, that there will be “a certain kind of normality again” at the Penzberger Volksfest this year.
And what if only a beer garden with a few booths should be allowed?
Like 2021?
Even then, Fahrenschon would like to set up his marquee in the city, because in 2021 this alternative Penzberg Wiesn "proved quite well".