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Gilroy Garlic Festival
Status	Ceased
Genre	Fairs
Begins	Last Friday in July
Ends	Following Sunday
Frequency	Annually
Venue	Christmas Hill Park
Location(s)	Gilroy, California
Coordinates	36°59′52″N 121°35′7″W / 36.99778°N 121.58528°W / 36.99778; -121.58528
Country	United States
Years active	1979–2019, 2021

The Gilroy Garlic Festival was a food festival in the United States, held annually from 1979 to 2019 at Christmas Hill Park in Gilroy, California, on the last full weekend in July. After its cancellation in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 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, stating that it would instead host smaller individual events. In May 2022, the festival was canceled permanently.

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 30 miles (48 km) southeast of San Jose, Gilroy is home to about 60,000 people, and the city is a major producer of garlic. The festival was Gilroy's top fundraiser, staffed with volunteers to raise money for nonprofit groups including clubs and schools.

History

The inaugural 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 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 COVID-19 pandemic, while 2021 saw a drive-thru festival. In April 2022, the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association announced that the event would be canceled thereafter due to prolonged losses, "lingering uncertainties from the pandemic," and "prohibitive insurance requirements by the City of Gilroy" since the 2019 shooting.

California Garlic Festival

The California Garlic Festival has been held annually since 2022 in response to the cancellation of the Gilroy Garlic Festival. The California Garlic Festival is sometimes considered a successor of the Gilroy Garlic Festival, although they are held by two unrelated organizers.

In popular culture

The Garlic Festival was featured by Huell Howser in Road Trip Episode 124.

Gallery

• Garlic food varieties, 2006
• Garlic food choices, 2006
• Garlic themed t-shirts, 2006
• Visitors tasting free samples of garlic ice cream, 2007
• Calamari being cooked, 2011

See also

• Isle of Wight Garlic Festival
• Garlic ice cream

References

1. ^ Thomas, Robert McG. Jr. (November 3, 1998). "Rudolph Melone, 73, Founder of California's Gilroy Garlic Festival". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on August 7, 2019.
2. ^ Guerrero, Susana (May 2, 2022). "Gilroy Garlic Festival is not returning, despite reports". SF Gate. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
3. Dorsey, Dustin (July 20, 2021). "Here's how the reimagined 2021 Gilroy Garlic Festival will work at Gilroy Presbyterian Church". ABC 7 News. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
4. ^ "Gilroy Garlic Festival Cancels Annual Event Indefinitely". nbcbayarea.com. April 21, 2022.
5. Echeverria, Danielle (April 22, 2022). "Gilroy Garlic Festival canceled for foreseeable future". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
6. ^ Bogel-Burroughs, Nicholas; Fortin, Jacey (July 28, 2019). "Gilroy Festival Shooting in California Kills at Least 3". The New York Times. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
7. ^ Vo, Thy; Sulek, Julia Prodis; Green, Jason (July 28, 2019). "Four dead, including suspect, and at least 15 hurt after shooting at Gilroy Garlic Festival". The Mercury News. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
8. "Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting: Suspect Santino William Legan, 19, identified as gunman who allegedly killed 3 people". ABC News. July 29, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
9. Rubenstein, Steve; Hernandez, Lauren; Wu, Gwendolyn; Fracassa, Dominic (July 29, 2019) . "Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting: 3 killed, 12 wounded, gunman dead". San Francisco Chronicle.
10. Rivera, Kurt (12 August 2022). "Inaugural California Garlic Festival kicks off this weekend in Stockton". abc10.com. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
11. "The California Garlic Festival Is Moving Again, This Time to Los Banos". SFist - San Francisco News, Restaurants, Events, & Sports. 2024-04-24. Retrieved 2024-09-30.
12. Gary, Jesse (2022-05-02). "Gilroy Garlic Festival in Stockton? Promoter says no". KTVU FOX 2. Retrieved 2024-09-30.
13. "Gilroy – Road Trip (124) – Huell Howser Archives at Chapman University".

Sources

• Gilroy Garlic Festival. Retrieved January 19, 2007.
• The Gilroy Garlic Festival, 2005.
• Garlic festival tidbits, 2006. Archived 2019-08-08 at the Wayback Machine
• The Origin of the Gilroy Garlic Festival, 2007.

• Tourist attractions in Silicon Valley
• 1979 establishments in California
• 2022 disestablishments 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
• Festivals disestablished in 2022
• Tourist attractions in Santa Clara County, California