Posted on 04/22/2022 9:40:56 AM PDT by nickcarraway
The popular Gilroy Garlic Festival and gourmet alley which attracted tens of thousands of garlic lovers and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for local charities is being canceled indefinitely.
“Due to lingering uncertainties from the pandemic, along with prohibitive insurance requirements by the City of Gilroy, the Gilroy Garlic Festival Board has decided not to move ahead with a festival for 2022 and the foreseeable future,” the festival board of directors said in a letter to local media.
According to past president and current board member, Tom Cline the festival was losing money.
“Clearly it was over the 10 years of just losing money was the main culprit and the main cause of what was going on with the festival and being able to be sustainable and that was the real cause that was the root cause of it,” Cline said.
Festival organizers said rising costs and insurance premiums contributed to the problem. The festival was having to bus-in people as development encroached around Christmas Hill Park where the annual was held.
“The truth of the matter is the development around Christmas Hill Park is what was eating at the Garlic Festival Association's reserves and they were barely able to keep that going,” said Gilroy Mayor Marie Blankley.
Organizers said a deadly shooting at the festival in 2019 that left three dead and injured 17, played little in their decision to cancel the festival. The event never really recovered from it. The festival was canceled the following year because of COVID-19 and a drive-thru version was held in 2021.
“The nonprofits, schools, sports teams, I mean so many things yes that depended on it for fundraising absolutely that's probably the biggest loss I would say,” Blankley said.
Organizers say they are re-imagining the annual festival and will look to bring back a much smaller version, possibly a 2,500 to 5,000 person a day event; if they can only find a venue.
“We're not going away," Cline said. "We're trying to work through it and figure it out and it is a process and it's hard to put a timetable on it and I know people want that and understand that we just got to find it."
Festival organizers said they plan to hold several smaller events this summer to keep the brand alive and raise money for local nonprofits. Those events include a golf tournament in June, a concert in July and a dinner in September.
It wasn’t safe to go to this event. Too many shootings, robberies, assaults, and car burglaries.
The glories of diversity writ large.
One of Marilyn Monroes early beauty contest wins, I believe.
Arizona just had the Maricopa county fair and it was pretty busy. We were sad it was smaller than prechicomplague, but happy to see such an enthusiastic crowd. Wife wasn’t into any Carnaval foods so I took her to a Spanish restaurant after.
A lot of tradition/heritage is being destroyed.
“Sad. I guess no more garlic ice cream.”
Just drive up the road to The Stinking Rose.
““Clearly it was over the 10 years of just losing money was the main culprit and the main cause of what was going on with the festival and being able to be sustainable and that was the real cause that was the root cause of it,” Cline said. “”
I can see WHY he was the PAST president...
What pandemic?
80% of the garlic consumed by Americans comes from China....same with apple juice.
Garlic ice cream was always just gross
Can't say I haven't used it myself. A distant relative I hardly knew passed away? Sorry to hear that but no, I'm afraid I can't come to the wake because of the uncertainty of the pandemic and I don't want to put anybody at risk. But do tell me where to send the flowers and card.
Does China grow Apple trees or do they import apples, process them and then export apple juice? This is what they do with processed meats.
Going to see a uptick amoung Vampires.
I didn't think Gilroy, a farm town, had a lot of violent crime. I was at the Renaissance festival just down the road in 2017, and there were no problems whatsoever.
But it’s mostly white people so it’s okay.
ping
I think they stored my roommate’s personal goods there for a month before he received them at our new assignment. He got them delivered and opened them up and the garlic smell ran us out of the room. It was a PCS from the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA to Goodfellow AFB in San Angelo, Texas. Took a couple of weeks for it all to air out.
Sad. One less event to actually get people out of their homes and in the company of other human beings.
My wife and I went to it once 18 or 19 years ago. Garlic ice cream was ok, a little extra bite in the flavor from the garlic, mostly just a novelty.
Is Morgan Hill still doing their knock-off version, Mushroom Marti Gras?
I think they import the apples but not the garlic.
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