Beau’s Natural Brewery, sponsor of the annual summer Oktoberfest, announced on its website that the event will not take place because of the pandemic.

“Beau’s has made the difficult, but necessary, decision not to host a 2020 edition of our Oktoberfest,” the announcement stated. “While we are currently seeing lots of positive signs that community transmission of COVID-19 is subsiding, there are still too many unknowns to risk going ahead with an event of this scale in such a short time from now.”

The company is working on plans for an Oktoberfest event for September 2021 “in a scale that fits into the current landscape of social distancing” and will provide future updates when available.

The United Way Bike Ride, which was part of the annual Oktoberfest, will continue in a virtual form this year. Funds raised from the annual bike ride help support vulnerable youth.

Registration and details on how the virtual bike ride will take place are available at www.beausoktoberfest.ca/ride.