Did You Know?
The Gilroy Garlic Festival, now in its 41 st year, has been
officially certified by GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS ®
as the world’s largest garlic festival.
T
Shawn Keck
he world-renowned Gilroy Garlic Festival takes place
over three summer days—July 26, 27, and 28 this
year—but its operations board spends the entire year
getting ready.
“I explain to people that we build Disneyland for a week at
Christmas Hill Park in Gilroy, and then we tear it down,” said
its 2019 president, Shawn Keck.
About a week after they close up the final storage bins, Keck
said they’re back at planning for the next year.
The highly curated, professional event that draws foodies
and art lovers from all over the state is almost completely
volunteer powered and will be bringing some fun new changes
that Keck expects will be popular with crowds.
First, on Saturday night, they’re holding a special concert on
one of the three stages with a Grammy award winning musical
artist and extending the hours to 8 pm so that folks can have a
(hopefully cooler) evening experience.
“The opportunity to be out there on a nice summer
evening, we hope creates a unique experience. Every evening
is beautiful at the park,” Keck said.
They’ll also build upon the success of last year’s signature
cocktail with a new one this year—but you have to show up
to find out what it is.
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GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
Foodies will be excited to hear that they’re also mixing
things up at gourmet alley.
Traditionally there has only been one window for each
food item, Keck said, but now guests will be able to purchase
multiple items at one window, say a sandwich, fries, garlic
bread in one to streamline the food experience and help
reduce lines.
“We want to make it a little bit easier for folks to get the
great food we have,” Keck said.
Additionally, there will be celebrity chefs providing meals
and cooking advice, including MasterChef Season 9 winner,
Gerron Hurt, who will appear on Friday, and Real Housewives
star and cookbook author, Teresa Guidice, who will appear
on Saturday.
“Each chef is a little different. Some chefs will do prep,
some will be up on stage during other events. Each has a
different quirk,” Keck said.
Competitive amateur chefs can also participate in several
competitions such as the Champions for Charity challenge,
on Friday, in which teams of local first responders and
military professionals compete in a three-round cooking
challenge (appetizer, entrée and dessert) to win $3,000 for the
charity of their choice.
Also on Friday is the Garlic Chef Jr. competition for young
chefs, ages 9 to 18. Chefs will have two hours to prepare a
garlic-involved dish onstage. They can invite one adult sous
chef to help. The winner will receive a prize valued at $500.
On Saturday, contestants will compete in the Garli-Que
BBQ Challenge, a BBQ competition sanctioned by the
Kansas City Barbecue Society. This draws teams from across
the country to compete for prize money, trophies, and the
People’s Choice Award.
Though the gourmet food, master chefs, great entertain-
ment and fabulous art draw the crowds, Keck wants people
to know that the focus of the festival is actually fundraising.
While some people complain about the price of admission
and parking, Keck pointed out, “All of the volunteers are
charities, nonprofits, sports teams and other organizations.
The festival is their main fundraising event for many of them.”
To date, in its 41 years, the festival has given a total
of $11.7 million in donations to the various charitable
organizations involved.
Additionally, Keck said, what he wants people to know is
that, “The student that parked your car or sold you food was
volunteering for their charity or school.”
june/july 2019
gmhtoday.com