The Americas

This July, garlic lovers will flock to Gilroy, CA for the annual Gilmore Garlic Festival, which takes place from 29-31 July.

A photo posted by @puzzledsheep on Jul 26, 2015 at 5:57pm PDT

 

The festival features an amazing array of garlic cuisine, from free garlic ice cream for everyone, to garlic-infused seafood and the classic garlic bread.

 

At the centre of the action is Gourmet Alley, a “gigantic outdoor kitchen” where Pyro Chefs carry out impressive flame-up shows as they cook up garlic-enhanced creations.

 

Expect zesty fried calamari, garlic rosemary chicken, garlic sauteed mussels, chicken and waffles, garlic steak tacos, roasted corn with garlic butter, garlic cajun crawdads, garlic buffalo and garlic crawfish pie. Each year, festival-goers consume more than two tons of fresh garlic over the course of the weekend.

A photo posted by Mike Winston (@winstonwanders) on Jul 29, 2015 at 9:33pm PDT

 

 

 

For those who aren’t excited by that much garlic, worry not. The festival has plenty of non-garlic laced snacks, so even vampires can find something to munch on.

 

Organised and run by volunteers, the festival has been around since 1979 and has raised millions for local schools and charities.

Jodi Taffel’s winning dish of Shakshuka with Deep Fried Garlic at the Great Garlic Cook-off at the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival in Gilroy, Calif., on Saturday, July 25, 2015. “This is huge,” said Dan Green, longtime co-host of the event. “The Garlic Crown is one of the most sought-after prizes in all of amateur cooking.” Taffel shrieked in elation when she learned that her dish took the top spot. “It’s a traditional Israeli hangover breakfast,” she explained. “But I put bacon in it — and can’t bring the recipe back to Israel.” Saturday’s version of the eggy meal was bolstered by jalapeño and chipotle as well as an overdose of the requisite ingredient. “There’s half a cup of garlic minced in there,” Taffel said, adding that growing up on New York’s Long Island, “garlic was considered a vegetable and not a spice” in her family. Read more at www.mercurynews.com (Photo by LiPo Ching/Bay Area News Group) @lipoching @joditaffel #gilroygarlicfestival #gilroygarlicfestival2015 #greatgarliccookoff #gilroy #garlic #shaksuka #haveamint

A photo posted by MercNews (@mercnews) on Jul 27, 2015 at 12:45pm PDT

The festival is packed with entertainment for kids and adults alike. There are cooking competitions, demonstrations and arts and crafts. There’s also wine tasting, to wash down all that garlic. The 2016 Miss Gilroy Garlic Festival will also be in attendance throughout the weekend.

 

Gilroy Garlic Festival is located at Christmas Hill Park, Gilroy, about 30 miles south of San Jose. Advance tickets are now available.