It was all about the garlic.
Sure, the longest lines Friday morning were for Herbie
bobblehead purchases, and some folks bee-lined straight for the
arts and crafts, but garlic in all its glory was the highlight of
the party for the first visitors to the 27th annual Gilroy Garlic
Festival.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – It was all about the garlic.
Sure, the longest lines Friday morning were for Herbie bobblehead purchases, and some folks bee-lined straight for the arts and crafts, but garlic in all its glory was the highlight of the party for the first visitors to the 27th annual Gilroy Garlic Festival.
Ted and Norma Rose, from Santa Clara, were just getting started with a plate of calamari and garlic bread soon after the gates opened, and planned to return to Gourmet Alley for other famous favorites, including the penne pasta con pesto and garlic stuffed mushrooms.
“Though we’ve lived in San Jose, Santa Clara all our lives – and (Norma) was born in Gilroy – this is the first time we’ve come,” Ted Rose said. “I’m amazed. I’m shocked that there’s so many people here so early.”
At 9am, an hour before the gates were scheduled to open, a line snaked down Miller Avenue from the festival entrance near Gourmet Alley. The line grew to include at least a hundred people before the festival opened.
First in line was Gilroy resident Minerva Aguilera, who said she’s missed only one festival through the years. Her plan: purchase a Herbie bobblehead doll, buy a commemorative wine glass and come back later for food and entertainment. She planned to return today to shop and watch the Cook-Off and on Sunday will volunteer for South Valley Community Church.
“I like the music and the food,” said Aguilera, 49. “And just mingling with all the people.”
Aguilera watched as a crowd prepared to ceremoniously kick off the festival about 9:30 Friday morning. A line of several dozen volunteers, sister city guests, the Garlic Queen court, and festival directors stretched from the flaming garlic bulb to nearby Gourmet Alley. Justin Nicholls, son of festival Executive Director Richard “Dick” Nicholls, who died early last month, used the garlic bulb to light a torch and passed it to his mother, Brigitte. The torch passed through many hands before reaching Gourmet Alley where Garlic Queen Aisha Zaza passed it to Garlic Festival President Jennifer Speno, who finally handed it to “Garlic Godfather” Val Filice to light the first stove.
Once ticket collection began, Aguilera wasn’t the only one with Herbie on her mind. A line at the Garlic City Mercantile tent on the park side of the grounds was already several dozen people long – all volunteers who planned to snatch up the bobblehead as quickly as possible.
“I’m just getting the bobbleheads and then I’m going to go home,” said Marcia Linden, a Gilroy resident who said she would volunteer at the festival today and Sunday. “I don’t even want one. My daughter gets ’em, my mom, my aunt, my uncle, my nephew. I’ll get as many as they let me buy.”
One of the first women through the express line on the ranch side of the grounds walked away with eight $10 Herbies in plastic bags.
Opening ceremonies took place shortly afterward on the Cook-Off stage, under sunny skies.
“I’m so proud to be on this stage as president,” Speno said. “We’ve worked so hard all year.”
She dedicated this year’s event to Nicholls, who led the festival for nearly 20 years.
“He expressed the spirit of community, volunteerism and civic pride that have made the Garlic Festival what it is today,” Speno said. Volunteers who plan and run the festival have earned roughly $7 million for local charities in the history of the festival.
Nicholls’ focus was always on the more than 4,000 festival volunteers, Speno said, who learned from the way he gave back to the community.
“They have been touched in some way by his leadership and know that the best way to honor his memory is to give you the best festival ever,” she told the crowd.
Santa Clara County Supervisor and former Gilroy mayor Don Gage presented Speno with a resolution honoring Nicholls and his contributions to the festival, signed by the Board of Supervisors.
Mayor Al Pinheiro briefly introduced some visitors from four of Gilroy’s six sister cities, the most sister-city guests to come to the festival in one year. Representatives from Takko-Machi, Japan; Koror, Palau; Tecate, Mexico; and Angra do Heroismo, Portugal were all warmly welcomed.
In Gourmet Alley, the calamari pyro chefs kept things cooking all afternoon. Zaza and her court of garlic princesses stopped by to try their hand at a flame-up. Dave Bozzo, Jon Vickroy and other alley veterans guided them in adding the calamari at just the right time to send flames shooting into the air.
Many at the festival dashed into the shade to eat, but enjoyed the day’s sunshine. Early morning clouds cleared away for a warm afternoon with only light breezes. The temperature topped out at 90 degrees, according to the National Weather Service, and was expected to be about the same today and Sunday.
“It’s warm, but it’s nice. Now that I have a beer, it’s good,” said Erin Bergland, of San Jose.
“I think it’s perfect weather,” Speno said. “It was a great day. People stay longer, they eat more, they spend a little more money.”
Bob Trujillo, 67, of Soquel, got a sampling of the alley offerings by eating a combination plate while listening to the sounds of The Acoustic Preservation Society at the Gazebo stage.
“The only thing that compares closely to it is to go to Italy, like the southern towns in Italy, and eat at somebody’s house and really taste the authentic cooking,” said Trujillo, who said he spent May doing just that.
“They weren’t rich and they weren’t poor, but they made the best meals, with cheese and wine.”
The Children’s Area stage was hopping to the sounds and moves of Lori and RJ from Kids WB20. Small children, along with their parents, danced along to the entertainers’ disco moves.
Yolanda James-Sevilla brought daughter Janiya to see the energetic duo. That wouldn’t be the only stop for the Santa Cruz resident, who with older daughter Jazmin and cousin Elaine McRae-Hurndon, of Gilroy, was enjoying the “perfect” weather.
“I want to check out Gourmet Alley and the Cook-Off stage,” she said. “Eat garlic ice cream. Just walk around and have a good time.”
It remained to be seen Friday whether the new karaoke tent would be a draw for guests wanting to take their turn at entertaining. Folks ate and relaxed in the shade of the tent on the ranch side of Gourmet Alley, where the karaoke stage was located, and a few sang some old favorites. Karaoke is open from 11am to 2pm today and Sunday, as well. It was added to this year’s festival after a princess said in an interview during the Garlic Queen Pageant that if she were president, she would add karaoke to the weekend.
“We had a fantastic day at the park,” Speno said. “I was just thrilled to look out and wee so many people across the park. It was beautiful.”
View the Garlic Festival action at http://live.gilroygarlicfestival.com.
