Oktoberfest to go ahead in 2022 after pandemic break

FILE PHOTO: Beer garden guests salute during a barrel tapping near Theresienwiese where Oktoberfest would have started today as COVID-19 continues in Munich, Germany, September 19, 2020. REUTERS/Andreas Gebert/File Photo

MUNICH (Reuters) -The annual Oktoberfest, the world's largest beer festival, will take place this year without any coronavirus restrictions after being cancelled for the past two years due to the pandemic, Munich mayor Dieter Reiter said on Friday.

"There will be an unrestricted (festival), which will hopefully give a lot of people a lot of pleasure," Reiter told a news conference, adding that he had instructed the festival's management to go ahead "without delay and without restrictions."