Gilroy Police reported a total of 15 arrests—all related to alcohol—during the three-day Garlic Festival at Christmas Hill Park, which was attended by an estimated 100,000 garlic lovers.
Additionally, police escorted three people out of the festival grounds Sunday for disobeying the event’s rules.
Local authorities praised the overall good behavior of the weekend festival crowd and the work of law enforcement officers from multiple agencies in keeping the peace.
“There were no reported assaults on festival grounds over the weekend,” reads a press release from the Gilroy Police Department. “The law enforcement presence at the festival helped ensure the event was free of violence and safe for everyone to enjoy.”
On Friday, July 27, Gilroy Police arrested two people for public intoxication, the press release says. One of these suspects also had a warrant for his arrest.
On Saturday, July 28, Gilroy Police and agents from California Alcohol Beverage Control made eight arrests: three on suspicion of public intoxication, four for being minors in possession of alcohol and one for furnishing alcohol to a minor, according to police. Two of the detained minors were also in possession of fake identification cards.
On Sunday, July 29, police arrested five people on suspicion of public intoxication, according to the press release. Two of these suspects were repeat offenders from the previous day’s Garlic Festival arrests.
In addition to these arrests, officers also escorted three Garlic Festival patrons out of the park for disorderly conduct and failing to follow the festival’s rules.
Officers from Gilroy, Morgan Hill and Campbell police departments, as well as Santa Clara County Probation, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation—Parole Services, California Highway Patrol and ABC patrolled the Garlic Festival grounds throughout the event.
