Born and raised in Gilroy, Mary Avila knows to get in and out of
the fest with what you want
Gilroy – Every year there is that one person who just can’t wait to get into the Garlic Festival. Although they know the gates don’t open until 10am, they get there hours early.
This year, Mary Avila was the first person to enter Christmas Hill Park to kick off the festival.
Not content to end up at the end of the line, Avila showed up at 8:30am wearing a green “Got Garlic?” T-shirt. So why would she show up an hour-and-a-half early? Herbie had a little something to do with it.
“I came here for the bobblehead and the peppersteak,” she said. “I enjoy seeing the crowd and seeing everything they have.”
Avila has every single Herbie bobblehead. She said she puts the newest one on her shelf for a couple months until it starts getting dusty, then they are taken down and the spot is saved for the next one. As for this year’s blue apron adorned Herbie, Avila said she approves.
“I think he’s really cute,” she said.
Avila was wearing a garlic bulb gold necklace that she said her mother bought at one of the first Garlic Festivals. She said garlic has just been part of family tradition since she was little. When the family that lives in Gilroy visits relatives in Southern California, she said, they always make sure to bring garlic with them.
“Garlic has been part of the family for a long time,” Avila said. “We always have garlic hanging around.”
She said she was born and raised in Gilroy and knows the festival in and out. She shows up early, grabs her bobblehead, checks out the scene and checks out at noon when the temperature starts to rise and the crowds start to gather.
But there is one thing that she makes sure to return for without fail: Shaboom.
“It’s not the Garlic Festival without the garlic and Shaboom,” she said.
