Garlic Festival President Dennis Harrigan was a pent up ball of energy as he waited to get the 35th annual 2013 Gilroy Garlic Festival show on the road Friday morning. Standing just of front of the famed flaming garlic bulb near the entrance to the park, Harrigan appeared to be enjoying himself.
“We’re going to have a great festival,” he beamed.
Moments later, Harrigan bounded onto the stage supporting the bulbous giver of fire and after a very short speech, set in motion the official start of Gilroy’s extraordinary, pungent pageant.
“This is the best city in the world and let’s get this thing started and light this torch,” he declared.
As the flaming torch flew through the hands of volunteers and dignitaries toward Don Christopher and the Pyro Chefs situated at the end of the snaking line, festivalgoers waited patiently for their chance to get in on the fun.
“I’ve been coming every year for the past 25 years,” said Tami Welker of Los Banos, as she stood first in line at 9 a.m. “I always like to come early.”
George Fallon of Morgan Hill was right behind her, but his prime position was more by error than intention.
“I thought they opened at 9 a.m.,” Fallon laughed.
However, Fallon had more on his mind than trying the new zesty garlic fried calamari. For him it was all about the bobbleheads. A new Herbie the bobblehead will be available at this year’s festival, returning after a five year hiatus. In fact, today marked Fallon’s first visit to the Garlic Festival since 2008. The reason?
“They had no bobbleheads,” he laughed.
As Fallon was preparing to stuff his swag bag, Marty McAvoy was gearing up for his three-day stint as one of the famed pyro-chefs of Gourmet Alley. A 25-year veteran of the festival, McAvoy played down his culinary skills.
“I’m getting better,” he grinned.
Within an hour the festival site was thronged with people chowing down on all manner of garlicky delights. Be it sausages, calamari, pasta or even ice cream, paper trays of finger-licking-good comestibles were flying into the hands of eager foodies.
“It’s very good,” said Diane Baker of Cupertino as she dug into a tray of the brand new zesty garlic fried calamari.
Baker’s friend, Carolyn Schultz, was equally impressed.
“Garlic is hot,” she laughed, pointing to her 1990 Garlic Festival T-shirt bearing the same words.
Another satisfied customer, Charles Saltz of San Diego, stopped eating long enough to give a verdict.
“I love fried calamari and I love garlic,” he grinned. “It’s good, the flavor’s great.”
Saltz and his wife Paula had made the trip up from San Diego along with 30 other bikers as members of the Biggs Chapter of the Harley Owners Group, or HOG for short. Although they will take in sights from all over the Bay Area while they are here, garlic is at the root of their trip.
“This is what draws us,” Charles said.
This year’s Garlic Festival also saw the rolling out of a new way to pay for your food. Customers can now pay with credit or debit cards in Gourmet Alley. For some though, it appeared that cash was still king.
“I didn’t even know they were doing that,” said one man as he stuffed bank notes back into his wallet after picking up his food platter.
That might not be exactly what festival organizers want to hear. Still, past-President Hugh Davis is quick to point out what’s at stake with the new technology.
“It’ll give us trackability and real-time sales data,” he explained.
That will allow the organizers to know exactly what is going on in Gourmet Alley at any given moment.
That level of sophistication already exists when it comes to calculating tickets sold online. The Festival’s Executive Director Brian Bowe illustrated how that level of connectivity is useful by showing real-time online ticket sales totals. The figure was at 11,675 by Friday at 9 a.m.
“It’ll be close to 30,000 by Sunday at noon,” Bowe noted.
As crowds of people streamed through the gates, Gilroy Garlic Queen Olivia Echeverria was steeling herself for a busy weekend.
“It’s so surreal that it’s even here,” she laughed.
Surrounded by her queenly court, Echeverria ruminated on the fun she’d already had as an ambassador for Gilroy. A highlight was meeting Hiroko Yamamoto, the Garlic Lady of Gilroy Sister City, Takko-machi, Japan.
“We had a welcome dinner and it was so much fun getting to know her,” said Echeverria. “I know I’ll be welcome there.”
Echeverria will be Gilroy’s ambassador at Takko-machi’s Beef and Garlic Festival later in the year.
As ex-Mayor of Gilroy Al Pinheiro suddenly swooped out of thin air and chaperoned Yamamoto – looking resplendent in her kimono – away for yet another photo call, Garlic Queen pageant runner-up Melissa Wilder was raring to get on with her courtly duties.
“I’ve had my coffee and I’m excited to talk to people,” she laughed.
