HEAVEN SCENT
YOUR GUIDE TO THE 2019 GILROY GARLIC FESTIVAL
That sweetly pungent smell wafting up from the south can mean only one thing — the Gilroy Garlic Festival, the granddaddy of California food festivals, is coming.
The 41st annual event will be held, as always, on the last full weekend of July — Friday, Saturday and July 28 — at the city’s Christmas Hill Park, with garlicky food, cooking competitions, recipe demos, live music and vendors.
Here’s what’s new this year, plus a refresher on tickets, transportation and more.
THE CULINARY CELEBRITIES
Making his first appearance in Gilroy will be
Tom Colicchio, the James Beard award-winning chef and restaurateur who serves as host and head judge of the long-running “Top Chef” series. At the festival, he will host the Great Garlic Cook-off at 10 a.m. Saturday, then demonstrate one of his favorite garlicky recipes and do a Q&A with the audience.
Teresa Giudice, one of the stars on “The Real
Housewives of New Jersey,” will head to the cooking stage at 2:30 p.m. Saturday to demonstrate healthy Italian recipes passed down in her family. She’s the author of three bestselling cookbooks, “Skinny Italian,” “Fabulicious” and “Fabulicious! Fast & Fit.”
THE COOKING CONTESTS
Here’s the chronological lineup:
Kicking off the festival’s culinary competitions at 11 a.m. Friday will be Champions for Charity, with first responders showing off their culinary skills. Gerron Hurt, the season 9 “Masterchef” winner, will be the emcee. The winning team will donate the $3,000 prize to the charity of their choice.
At 2 p.m. Friday, wannabe culinary stars ages 9 to 18 will compete in the second annual Garlic Chef Jr. Each contestant will cook or bake an original recipe containing at least six cloves of garlic. Hurt will emcee. After the winning chef is announced at 4 p.m., Hurt will be back onstage for a cooking demo.
At 10 a.m. Saturday, Colicchio will emcee the Great Garlic Cook-off, an annual tradition that pits some of the nation’s top amateur chefs against each other. Four of the eight finalists are from California: Ellen Rivera of Gilroy will prepare her Ribeye Triple Garlic Coconut Rice Bowl with Zippy Sauce; Robyn Price from Brea will recreate her Cocoa-coffeecrusted Garlic & Bacon Cheesecake with Caramel Drizzle; Emily Falke from Santa Barbara is making Chiles en Nogada with Roasted Garlic Walnut Sauce; and Merry Graham from Newhall scored a finalist spot with her Garlicky BBQ Pork Fluffy Japanese Pancake with Strawberry Sriracha Syrup.
Sunday’s big event is the noontime Garlic Showdown, an “Iron Chef”-style competition for professional chefs. Defending his two titles (2017 and 2018) will be Carlos Pineda, chef from the Culinary Academy/rebekah Children’s Home in Gilroy. Going up against him will be Mark Segovia of Segovia Catering in Gilroy, freelance chef Jon Toste and Steven Catalano, executive chef at the Foster City tech company Zoox. The emcee for the contest will be Alexander La Motte, executive chef at the Rosewood Cordevalle Resort in San Martin.
THE FESTIVAL FOOD
The sizzling pyro chefs at Gourmet Alley will serve their classic recipes for garlic scampi, pasta con pesto, pepper steak sandwiches, calamari and more. Vendors will sell sliders, hot dogs, nachos, burritos and other festival fare. And festivalgoers can buy tickets to sample ribs at the Gilroy Garli-que BBQ Challenge and cast their vote for People’s Choice.
THE MUST-TRY
As always, the most unusual item at the fest is the garlic ice cream. You’ll love it or hate it — but you have to try it. And it’s free, courtesy of Olam Foods of Gilroy.
THIS YEAR’S NEW COCKTAIL
The Garlic Festival Mule, in a signature copper mug, was so popular that it sold out last year. It’s back this year ($17 with logo mug, refills $12), and there’s a new cocktail too. The Whiskey Daisy ($12) is a whiskey sour made with Jameson.
BEST FREE SOUVENIR
You can learn to make a garlic braid to take home. Just show up at the Garlic Grove area (near the Garlic Cook-off Stage) at 1 or 3 p.m. on any festival day. Don’t forget to taste the garlic ice cream!
THE OTHER FREE SOUVENIR
You don’t want a nasty sunburn courtesy of the hot Gilroy sun. Make sure to wear sunscreen and reapply frequently.
THE MUSIC
You’ll find live music — rock, blues, jazz, swing, reggae — on three stages, but country rules at this festival. For the first time, a Saturday evening concert will be presented, with Grammy-winning Nashville singer-songwriter Colbie Caillat and her new band, Gone West, taking the Amphitheater Stage at 6 p.m.
On what’s dubbed “Country Sunday,” KRTYFM 95.3 will again present up-and-coming musicians. This year’s noon to 3 p.m. lineup is Waterloo Revival, Caylee Hammack and King Calaway.
THE TRAFFIC
If you’re driving, do not follow GPS instructions and be wary of Waze because streets near the park will be blocked off. Instead, follow the electronic signs (and the long line of cars) on Highway 101 south and other freeways to this year’s parking lots. They open at 9 a.m. Parking costs $15; the shuttles are free. Note: You’ll be parking primarily on “graded agricultural fields,” so comfy closed-toe shoes are recommended.
THE GARLIC TRAIN
If you want to avoid the backed-up traffic on Highway 101 and save on parking, consider taking the Garlic Train on Saturday or Sunday. It’s a charter that will leave Diridon station in San Jose at 10 a.m. both days. When you arrive in downtown Gilroy one hour later, a free shuttle bus will ferry you to the festival. For the return trip, hop on the bus at 3 p.m. to catch the train back north. It will leave Gilroy at 4 p.m.
Train tickets include festival admission: $43 adults, $38 seniors (ages 60-plus) and $33 youths (ages 10-16). Buy online at www.gilroygarlicfestival.com.
THE DEALS
You can save $2 off each ticket by buying online in advance (print out your tickets or download the bar code to your phone for scanning) at www.gilroygarlicfestival.com or at any Raley’s, Nob Hill or Bel Air store. Admission is $18 online/store for adults (or $20 at the gate), $13 for seniors (or $15 at the gate) and $8 for youths (or $10 at the gate). Kids ages 9 and under get in free. Parking also costs $2 less when purchased online.
Plus you can save $2 on a combo food plate when bought in advance. So that’s $13 online for pasta con pesto, calamari, half a pepper steak sandwich and garlic bread.
THE HOURS
Note the new hours this year: It’s 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday (you get one more hour to chow down, listen to music) and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Entrance gates close one hour before the event closing time.
THE LAST WORD
More than 4,000 volunteers put on this festival annually. So your admission, food, wine, beer and souvenir monies go to good causes, making your garlic breath well worth it. Since 1979, the festival has raised more than $11.7 million for local nonprofits and schools.