No jubilee on the Cannstatter Wasen – the 175th Cannstatter Volksfest from 25 September to 11 October 2020 has regrettably been cancelled this year. This was announced today, Wednesday 29 April, by Stuttgart’s Lord Mayor Fritz Kuhn and Thomas Fuhrmann, the deputy mayor responsible for the city’s economy, finances and shareholdings “with deep regret” during a news conference. This is subject to confirmation by the Stuttgart city council’s Committee for Business and Housing on 8 May.
“The decision is hard but there was nothing else for it. The protection of the people of Stuttgart and the many guests from Germany and abroad is paramount,” said Kuhn. “I hope we can make up for it and hold the jubilee Volksfest and the Spring Festival in the coming year.”
The so-called “Cannstatter Mayor” Thomas Fuhrmann spoke of a “difficult decision”. He continued by saying: “We are monitoring the situation for the funfair operators and the festival publicans and want to put together a package so that we can help them.” Andreas Kroll, the CEO of the in.Stuttgart Veranstaltungsgesellschaft – the organiser of the city’s big events – pointed to the significant economic effects. “The Volksfest’s indirect profitability totals about half a billion euro. The economic consequences will hit funfair operators, festival publicans, breweries but also many other service providers, craftsmen and agencies as well as the hotel and gastronomy sectors.”
