GILROY
– Gilroyans can warm up their Garlic Festival taste buds at a
California League baseball game between the San Jose Giants and the
Modesto A’s. The Garlic Festival Association is giving away free
tickets to the June 19 game.
GILROY – Gilroyans can warm up their Garlic Festival taste buds at a California League baseball game between the San Jose Giants and the Modesto A’s. The Garlic Festival Association is giving away free tickets to the June 19 game.
“There can be no better venue than at a ball game, especially when it’s the San Jose Giants, whose barbecue has been hailed as the best in professional baseball,” said Julie Jackson, festival promotions committee chair. “We’ve talked to the chefs there, and they’ve promised to put some extra garlic in the dishes that night … so people can start filling up on garlic stuff early.”
The evening will be spiced not only by the flavor of garlic in the barbecue, but by the first face-to-face meeting of festival mascot Mr. Garlic and the professional sports cheerleader Krazy George, whose exploits originated 30 years ago at San Jose State University and have spanned the globe of international athletic events.
The entire game will reek of garlic. Before game time, the burning garlic bulb will greet garlic and baseball fans at the gates, members of the Gilroy High School Chamber Singers will sing the National Anthem and Mr. Garlic will throw the first pitch across the mound. Garlic Queen Melissa Noto and her court will let their hair down at the park as well. Fans dressed in Garlic Festival attire will qualify for drawings of prizes, which will include festival tickets. All guests will receive scratch-and-sniff garlic-smelling stickers – if they want one, Jackson added.
“We’ve got 5,000 tickets to the game,” Jackson said. “So, basically, we’re just hoping to fill up the park with people from Gilroy and Garlic Festival lovers.”
Jackson said the game should whet people’s appetites for the 25th annual Garlic Festival on July 25 to 27 at Christmas Hill Park.
“We wanted to have a way to celebrate the 25th anniversary,” Jackson said of the first-ever partnership between the Garlic Festival and the San Jose Giants. “I am personally a big fan. It’s a great place to take a family.”
The game’s action set to begin at 7 p.m. will be between the minor league affiliates of the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s. The Giants have a win-loss record of 24-34 this season.
Free tickets are available at the offices of the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association, 7473 Monterey St., and at the Visitors Bureau, 7780 Monterey St. On game day, tickets will be sold at regular prices of $7 or $9 for a box seat. Parking is $4 at Municipal Stadium, located on the corner of Senter and Alma in San Jose. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. For more information on how to obtain tickets to the game, call 842-1625.
