This Boise street party gets ‘very busy’ downtown. It just got canceled.

Strip off your lederhosen. Put down that pretzel.

For the second straight year, Old Boise won’t host its traditional Oktoberfest celebration.

Less than two weeks before it was slated to occur, organizers have pulled the plug on the annual outdoor street party, scheduled for Sept. 18 at 6th and Main streets.

Because of COVID-19, it wasn’t even planned in 2020. That would have been the 11th annual Old Boise Oktoberfest.

“We are very sorry to say we are canceling our 2021 event,” organizers wrote Tuesday on Facebook. “If you have attended our event in the past, you are aware that it gets very busy, and with our hospitals being already overwhelmed, we do not wish to add to the problem.

“On top of this, our team has looked at the options for parking, and with the construction currently happening, there simply isn’t any available for a crowd our size.”

Featuring German beers and food, live music and games, Old Boise Oktoberfest has been a big draw in past years. Many attendees sit at tables and congregate under tents, making social distancing a challenge.

Tickets purchased in advance will be refunded within five to nine business days, according to the Facebook post.

Old Boise Oktoberfest is the second major outdoor festival in Idaho’s capital city to make a relatively last-minute decision to cancel. The larger Hyde Park Street Fair, slated for Sept. 17-19 in Camel’s Back Park, was called off, too — also marking the second straight year it will be missing in Boise.

This story was originally published September 9, 2021 at 4:18 PM.