A warm weekend will usher in the annual festival with a Friday high of 94 degrees and low of 59 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. A light breeze topping out at five mph and "rain rooms" sprinkled throughout the park will keep garlic lovers cool, said Ed Struzik, president of this year's festival.

"Right around 90 is about right," he said of the happy medium between being too hot to be outside and being just hot enough to convince festival goers to indulge in another frosty glass of beer. "Hot and dry makes for good beer."

Forecasters expect the first day of the festival to be the hottest, followed by highs of 91 and 86 degrees on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

"My only concern is that Friday is supposed to be the hottest day," Struzik said. "We don't want people to get discouraged. But there's supposed to be a great breeze."

However, the breeze won't be enough to clear the smoke that lingers on the horizon from the fires burning in northern California.

"It's probably not going to move much of anything," Forecaster Diana Henderson said. She characterized the weekend weather as hot and dry but hazy.

But Struzik wasn't worried by the faint scent of smoke and said the Gilroy Fire Department will be on site just in case anything goes awry.

"I know this is going to be a great year," he said.