Editorial: Garlic Festival’s scale-down is essential for its future
The festival struggled financially as the costs of putting it on had been rising for about a decade
The pyro chefs in front of Gourmet Alley show of their flame skills at a past Gilroy Garlic Festival. Photo courtesy Gilroy Garlic Festival
Editorial is the opinion of Gilroy Life
In the 1930s, the cowboy comedian Will Rogers sometimes stopped at the Milias Hotel in downtown Gilroy to enjoy a steak at its restaurant. In one of his newspaper columns, Rogers joked about the city’s garlic industry, calling Gilroy “the only place in America where you can marinate a steak by hanging it on a clothesline.”
Rogers would certainly be impressed with the Gilroy Garlic Festival and how it brought people from around the Bay Area and around the world to taste delicious foods made with the herb that made the South Valley region famous.
But more than the fun, friends, and food, Rogers, a humanitarian, would appreciate the true spirit of the event. What some called “the world’s greatest summer food festival” gave thousands of community volunteers the opportunity to raise millions of dollars for local schools, charities, and nonprofit organizations — and thus improve the quality of life for our region. The spirit of camaraderie infused into the festival’s ambiance made the event something special for everyone.
Unfortunately, those beloved days of the three-day garlic-o-rama may be gone for good. The festival will be scaled down into a series of smaller, intimate festivities to celebrate garlic and our quality of life in the South Valley.
Garlic Festival Association Past President Tom Cline and Vice President-Elect Cindy Fellows released a statement describing “lingering uncertainties” for the future of the festival. These arise from the COVID-19 pandemic as well as sky-rocking insurance requirements following the mass shooting July 28, 2019, resulting in the deaths of three guests.
“Obviously, we are left frustrated and disappointed,” the two festival officials said in their statement. “Our world-renowned festival has helped showcase Gilroy and the South County for 42 years while raising many millions of dollars for local charities.”
Many of us will feel sadness at our loss of such a wonderful event that many residents of Gilroy, Morgan Hill and San Martin grew up with. Silence will hang heavy over the grounds at Christmas Hill Park the last weekend of July when there once had been tens of thousands of people strolling around and enjoying themselves in the summer heat.
Let’s hold on to the happy memories: Gourmet Alley guests waiting in line to savor their shrimp scampi and other garlicky delights. Exciting cook-offs to see the best chefs in the South Valley — and some celebrity chefs, too — whip up garlic-spiced cuisine for prizes and bragging rights. Great music performed at the stages to entertain the guests with a variety of talented artists.
Thankfully, organizers are working to make sure the Gilroy Garlic Festival continues to carry the spirit originally envisioned by co-founder Gavilan College Superintendent Dr. Rudy Melone. He had a “crazy idea” when reading a newspaper story about a garlic soup festival in France. He convinced Christopher Ranch owner Don Christopher, businessman Val Filice, and other local farmers and businesses to celebrate the hometown crop and host a garlic festival of their own.
The first Gilroy Garlic Festival in August 1979 was a wild success, overwhelming the volunteers as an endless stream of guests passed through the gates. Over the years, it grew in world-wide fame.
“The festival is part of our heritage,” Cline and Fellows said in their statement. “Now we must ensure that it is part of our future. While it will never be the massive event of the past, a more intimate, local festival can still allow us to celebrate the community, garlic and all it inspires.”
Among the events of the reboot will be a festival golf tournament held June 24 at the Gilroy Golf Course, a country music concert July 13 at Clos LaChance, and a fall farm-to-table dinner. The festival board encourages South Valley residents to share their ideas for other smaller events that might capture the spirit of the festival.
Scaling down the festival was inevitable. In recent years, the festival struggled financially as the costs of putting it on had been rising for about a decade while attendance was in decline compared to the big crowds of past decades. The decision of re-inventing the festival to be more sustainable was unavoidable.
No doubt, with the mind-set of focusing on the South Valley community instead of big crowds, the spirit of the Gilroy Garlic Festival will continue to not only survive but thrive in the coming years. We wish the event much success in this new path it is taking.