Annual Oktoberfest canceled
The crowd gathers around to watch competitors in the men’s log-sawing competition at the stage at the Great Northwest Oktoberfest. (Heidi Desch/Whitefish Pilot file)
The annual Great Northwest Oktoberfest scheduled for this fall has been canceled.
The Whitefish Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the event, made the announcement Friday that due to the COVID-19 pandemic the event would not take place this year.
“This certainly isn't the announcement we'd been hoping to make,” said Chamber Executive Director Kevin Gartland. “But the handwriting is on the wall. There's simply no way that we can stage the event safely this fall given the current situation with COVID-19, and there's no way to stage it profitably given the restrictions that are in place to help slow the spread of the virus."
Oktoberfest had been set to celebrate its 11th year. The event takes place annually downtown on the last weekend of September and the first weekend in October.
The two-weekend event involves music, dancing, contests, food and of course authentic German beer.
The chamber had been working for months to come up with a plan that would keep Oktoberfest feasible, but it just wasn’t possible given restrictions on large gatherings and requirements for social distancing, according to the chamber.
"Social distancing just doesn't work at Oktoberfest," Gartland said. "Most nights we've got 700 plus festival goers who are bumper-to-bumper in the tent, on the dance floor, at the bar and while buying a brat, enjoying the opportunity to get together with friends, family and neighbors ... but definitely not keeping their distance."
Gartland said Oktoberfest will be back in 2021.
"We owe it to our community, to our patrons and to our dedicated volunteers to do the responsible thing, and err on the side of safety this year," Gartland said.
Dates for the 2021 Great Northwest Oktoberfest have been set for Sept. 23-25 and Sept. 30-Oct. 2.
For more information, visit http://www.whitefishoktoberfest.com/.