GILROY GARLIC FESTIVAL GOES BIG
GILROY >> It’s back and it’s big. Literally, the Guinness Book of World Records was there to prove it.
Sure, the Gilroy Garlic Festival set the world record in 2011 per Guinness for drawing the largest audience at a garlic festival with 109,067 attendees, but will this year beat that? Based on traffic patterns alone, it could.
“What am I looking forward to? Food,” San Jose native Melissa Vindiola said as she snapped a photo in front of the Burning Bulb. “That’s basically what today is.”
The festival always entices clove lovers from near and afar who bond over garlic-inspired foods like the classic garlic ice cream. But this year, the 39th annual festival hosts Food Network chef Giada de Laurentiis, host of “Giada at Home,” and a Garlic Train for transportation to and from the festival, leaving from San Jose Diridon Station.
De Laurentiis will judge the Garlic Showdown at noon on Sunday, announcing the winner at 2 p.m., before cooking her own creation of Penne with Corn and Spicy Sausage — and garlic, of course. Event organizers already expect the 1500 seats at the Cook-Off Stage to fill up and have ordered a JumboTron to view the showdown live.
With this grand appearance comes guests from as far away as Maine. Linda and Marty Stumps said they had been excited for the festival and centered a family trip around getting to the event.
“Who can say no to the Garlic Capital of the States?” Marty Stumps shouted over the yelling of “fire in the hole” as a pyro chef tossed garlic into the flames on Gourmet Alley.
They weren’t disappointed, trying a new twist to treat clove fan’s taste buds: deep-fried garlic shrimp, which Linda Stumps said was well worth the flight.
“Juicy, and you can definitely taste the garlic,” she said.
For San Jose native Stacey McClymond, the festival is a day of food. They were glad to get here early though, saying the best way to spend the day is before the crowds hit.
But the festival does more than just garlic — for the friends of garlic fans who might not want to indulge in it themselves, the festival features frozen lemonade, kettle corn and shaved ice — all without garlic.
“They had a band that just played some old Beatles type stuff and that was really good,” McClymond said about local residents on the Vineyard Stage. “So there’s other things to do here, but we’re getting back to the food.”
The band graced the stage before the Champions for Charity Cook-off at the Garlic Cook-Off Stage across the park. For those who missed former garlic ambassadors Gene Sakahara and Sam Bozzo — a.k.a. SakaBozzo — fear not: they were there to judge the event along with Executive Chef and three-time Garlic Showdown winner Jason Gronlund.
MasterChef Season 7 Winner Shaun O’Neale was honored to emcee the Champions for Charity event, commenting on how incredibly fast the chefs prepared their dishes and the benefits for charity as he congratulated this year’s winner.
“The Gilroy Garlic Festival should be the platform for how food festivals are run around the world,” O’Neale said about the dedication to the charity that the festival strives for. “Garlic for everyone!”
Per usual, the festival runs Friday through Sunday at Christmas Hill Park. Gates open at 10:00 a.m. and close at 7:00 p.m., with final admissions at 6:00 p.m.