The Gilroy Garlic Festival was a

food festival A food festival is a festival, that uses food, often produce, as its central theme. These festivals have always been a means of uniting communities through celebrations of harvests and giving thanks for a plentiful growing season. History Food ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, held annually from 1979 to 2019 at

Christmas Hill Park Christmas Hill Park is a 51-acre community park operated by the City of Gilroy in southwest Santa Clara County, California, US. The park provides trails for jogging, hiking and bicycling, as well as soccer and baseball/softball diamonds for group ...

Gilroy, California Gilroy is a city in Northern California's Santa Clara County, south of Morgan Hill and north of San Benito County. Gilroy is the southernmost city in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a population of 56,766 as of the 2019 U.S. Census Projection ...

, on the last full weekend in July. After cancellation in 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, a drive-through festival was held on July 23–25 and 30–31 July and August 1, 2021. In April 2022, the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association announced the indefinite suspension of the traditional large-format festival, and that it would instead host smaller individual events. In May 2022, the festival was canceled indefinitely. An annual three-day event, the Gilroy Garlic Festival was one of the country's best known food festivals, drawing visitors from across the nation. Located about southeast of San Jose, Gilroy is home to about 60,000 people, and the city is a major producer of

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. It is native to South A ...

. The festival was Gilroy's top

fundraiser Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

, staffed with volunteers to raise money for nonprofit groups including clubs and schools.

History

The first annual Garlic Festival was held in 1979. Rudolph J. Malone, then President of Gavilan College in Gilroy, was inspired by a small town in France which hosted an annual garlic festival and claimed to be the "Garlic Capital of the World." Malone started the festival, which attracted more than hundreds of thousands of paying visitors a year.

2019 shooting

On July 28, 2019, a

mass shooting There is a lack of consensus on how to define a mass shooting. Most terms define a minimum of three or four victims of gun violence (not including the shooter or in an inner city) in a short period of time, although an Australian study from 20 ...

occurred at the 41st edition of the festival. Three people were killed, in addition to the gunman, and 12 others were injured.

COVID-19 pandemic and cancellation

The festival was cancelled in 2020 due to the

, while 2021 saw a

drive-thru A drive-through or drive-thru (a sensational spelling of the word ''through''), is a type of take-out service provided by a business that allows customers to purchase products without leaving their cars. The format was pioneered in the Unite ...

festival. In April 2022, the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association announced that the event will be canceled indefinitely due to prolonged losses, "lingering uncertainties from the pandemic," and "prohibitive insurance requirements by the City of Gilroy" since the 2019 shooting. The association reportedly announced it would instead hold smaller events spread throughout the year. The festival is now confirmed to be canceled indefinitely.

Appearances in popular culture

The Garlic Festival was featured by

Huell Howser Huell Burnley Howser (October 18, 1945 – January 7, 2013) was an American television personality, actor, producer, writer, singer, and voice artist, best known for hosting, producing, and writing ''California's Gold'' and his human interest sh ...

in ''Road Trip'' Episode 124.

Gallery

References

Sources

''Gilroy Garlic Festival''. Retrieved January 19, 2007.

''Garlic festival tidbits'', 2006.

External links

Official Gilroy Garlic Festival website
{{San Jose and Silicon Valley attractions 1979 establishments in California Agriculture in California Annual events in California Festivals in the San Francisco Bay Area Festivals in California Food and drink festivals in the United States Food and drink in the San Francisco Bay Area Garlic Gilroy, California Festivals established in 1979 Tourist attractions in Santa Clara County, California