Oktoberfest 2020 Canceled In Encinitas Due To Coronavirus

ENCINITAS, CA — The 25th Annual Oktoberfest is canceled this year in Encinitas, due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to organizers.

The 2020 festival was planned for Oct. 4 at El Camino Real and Mountain View Drive.

COVID-19-related restrictions on mass gatherings made staging the event unfeasible, said Sherry Yardley, interim CEO of the Encinitas Chamber of Commerce.

The Encinitas festival always drew throngs with its ceremonial parade, authentic German food, biergarten, kids' zone, games, craft booths and live entertainment.

"We may do something small online, but haven't confirmed anything yet," Yardley said.

The chamber's decision is the second cancellation of a large-scale Oktoberfest in San Diego County. In El Cajon in July, the German American Societies of San Diego canceled its popular festival that was to run two weekends in September and October.

Beaumont in Riverside County also announced last week its 31st Annual King Ludwig's Oktoberfest was scrapped for 2020. And in San Francisco's Bay Area, Clayton dropped its 2020 Oktoberfest, a three-day, Munich-style festival that included carnival rides.

Local organizers are not alone in deciding to nix a Bavarian festival this year as German officials cited COVID-19 in April when pulling the plug on Munich's 220-year, legendary Oktoberfest, the world's largest such event annually drawing 6 million visitors.

Among other large-sized, holiday and community events canceled throughout the state due to COVID-19: Half Moon Bay's 2020 Art & Pumpkin Festival in the SF Bay Area; Rose Bowl Parade 2021 in Pasadena; the Los Angeles Philharmonic's fall concert series at Walt Disney Concert Hall; "Hamilton" performances in Hollywood (delayed to spring); and Anaheim's Fall Festival and Halloween Parade, a community tradition since 1923.

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