Check your calendars folks, because Gilroy’s world famous Garlic
Festival is rapidly approaching. In about two months, it will be
that time of year again in Gilroy.
Check your calendars folks, because Gilroy’s world famous Garlic Festival is rapidly approaching. In about two months, it will be that time of year again in Gilroy. According to one article written a couple of years ago, when the nation’s largest garlic festival started in 1979 it was packed with authentic die-hard Garlic geeks.
In fact, a mix of Gilroy’s commercial garlic growers and a few Bay Area garlic lovers actually started the festival. But, as the same article points out, a generation has passed and things have changed even with this honored local festival. Now some garlic geeks shake their heads and say the Gilroy event is too crowded and too commercial.
Of course, that begs the question to define what “too crowded” and “too commercial” really mean. Maybe an accurate measurement for too crowded will be when Christmas Hill park is so full of people that nobody will be able to move around. As far as being too commercial, well, until they give the food away free, it’s the commercial businesses that have made this event happen over the years. So it seems appropriate to say in this case “don’t bite the hand that’s feeding you.”
But maybe the true garlic-loves are right, and just like as marriage can become stale over time and needs rejuvenation, I’ll venture to say that the festival committee needs to come up with some new ideas to spruce-up our annual event.
I suspect that most thinking people in town have totally rejected the recent idea proposed by a city-hired consultant from RRM Design Group, Mark Brodeur by name, who is quoted in The Dispatch (April 5) saying that his firm was “appalled” and “surprised” that Gilroy’s most high-profile event was not held on its main street. Well now, isn’t that just dandy that these out of town experts were “appalled?”
Gilroy residents should be appalled that anybody could arrive at such a silly conclusion, and get paid for it at the same time. Brodeur went on to say “If 40,000 to 50,000 people can fit on Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, Monterey Street can handle a large venue, too.”
Having grown up in Santa Monica, I will point out to Mr. Brodeur that the Third Street Promenade is a dedicated pedestrian thoroughfare, and is permanently closed to traffic and parking. Therefore, it does not require any kind of a major traffic rerouting for large crowd events, and it has lots of big parking structures available.
But just picture what a mess it would be to hold the Garlic Festival downtown. Where would all those cars park? Answer: everywhere and anywhere. Then, what happens if a fire were to break out in one of the commercial buildings? Think about the big problem the fire department would have gaining access to the front of the building. And think about an earthquake of the level that recently struck Paso Robles, with buildings falling down on people all stuffed in the downtown area. It could happen.
Or think about the city’s liability when Joe Showoff, tanked with too much beer, decides to play chicken on the railroad tracks and loses the game to the train. Gilroy would be sued by Joe’s family because the city did not effectively protect Mr. Showoff from access to the railroad tracks. You can bet some lawyer would find a reason to sue. So while the idea of holding the festival in downtown makes “perfect sense” to Brodeur and company, I’m surprised over their lack of common sense about safety issues.
But hey, let’s get creative and make this 2004 event something that everybody will be talking about even more. So, here’s three suggestions to add some variation to this year’s Garlic Festival:
• Drop numbered garlic bulbs from an airplane into a bull’s eye-circle on the field. Bulbs would cost $10 to purchase, and the bulb that comes closest to the circle’s center wins a prize. Meanwhile, the Festival pockets the rest of these cash “donations.”
• A “Crazy Gilroy Garlic Run” for anybody brave enough to run a 5K distance through the streets of Gilroy in 105-degree weather. Winner gets a trophy and local Dispatch publicity, losers get to go to Saint Louise Hospital. Of course, charge an entry fee.
• A full course supreme garlic lovers meal, featuring garlic bulb salad, garlic laced-chicken or meat, garlic fries or onion rings, and for desert, garlic ice cream of course. Make it a contest for who can eat the most the fastest.
Crazy ideas? Sure. But at least I don’t claim that these things make perfect sense. While Brodeur said our downtown can never be the heart of “Garlic Town” if its namesake world famous event is held on the city’s outskirts, I say phooey to that logic – it’s worked so far, and it will work again at Christmas Hill Park.
