In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, resilient innkeepers in Munich, Germany, are set to keep the tradition of the Oktoberfest alive, despite its official cancelation.

The year of 2020 has been full of postponement and cancelations: from business conferences to personal holidays and weddings. The COVID-19 pandemic hasn't spared major global events: the 2020 Summer Olympics were postponed for 12 months, while this year's Eurovision Song Contest didn't take place at all.

For Germans, it was particularly painful when Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder and Munich mayor Dieter Reiter jointly announced on 21 April that the Oktoberfest would not go ahead this year, for the first time since World War II.

Despite this, over 50 innkeepers in Munich have kicked off a mini Oktoberfest on Saturday, hosting traditional tapping-the-keg celebrations while maintaining social distancing. The specially brewed beer will be flowing for the next two weeks. 

"It's no replacement, but at least an alternative and a chance to meet and go out with a small group of people," said Harald Posler, one of the people sitting at the spread-out tables in one of the Munich pubs, wearing the traditional lederhosen. "It's better than nothing, the best that one can do during corona times."

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The world's biggest beer festival attracts six million visitors annually from across the world, and it's as iconic as it is important for the local economy: each year seven million liters of beer are consumed during the festival, together with more than 100 oxen and half a million chickens.

"We are supporting the poor, suffering innkeepers today," said another beer hall visitor. "We would have gone to the Wiesn and as it is canceled, we just come here."

But a spike in infections in Munich on Saturday is a cause of concern. The state of Bavaria now has 19.7 cases per 100,000 people, the highest in the country.

Video editor: Riaz Jugon