Ride the garlic train
Some big changes on the rails for the 2016 Gilroy Garlic Festival, coming July 29-31. You want the good news first or the bad news?
Here’s the good, since you have been such good readers. For the first time there is a train that can take as many as 1,000 people to the festival from San Jose, or from as far north as San Francisco.
The festival has chartered a special passenger train that will leave San Jose’s Diridon Station at 10 a.m. and arrive in Gilroy at 11 a.m. There will be buses to bring passengers from Gilroy’s station to the fest. The train leaves Gilroy at 5 p.m. It costs $25 above the $20 admission for the festival, which is a steal if you consider how it beats the traffic and parking.
But here’s the catch: you have to buy tickets in advance at the Gilroy Garlic Festival website. There are 800 seats on the train and room for 200 people to stand. Grab a seat quickly!
Here’s the bad news. For the first time the festival is charging $10 for parking and there’s no parking near the festival. You will have to park at a site on Day Road or at Gavilan Community College and take free buses to the Christmas Hill Park site.
Festival organizers say the cost of running the buses for free has left them bone dry, financially. The $250,000 they expect to raise from parking should offset the bus charges and allow a good chunk of the $3 million they expect to gross to go to local charities. The festival has raised $11 million since 1979.
Each of the 4,000 volunteers who works at the festival earns money for the for one of 150 charities of their choice.
More good news: on Friday, July 29, South Valley locals can take $5 off the admission price and locals can also buy a three-day pass for $30. That includes residents from Morgan Hill to Aromas and Hollister. You can only buy those tickets at the gate with proof of residence.
You can ride a bicycle to the fest and save all transit fees. There is a free bike valet that will keep your wheels secure.
Festival organizers have drawn 85,000 to 135,000 people over the years, depending mostly on the weather.
Among this year’s new highlights are a Kansas City-based barbecue contest, with a $7,500 purse for the best cooking, some big-name country bands and a revamped children’s area.
