Gilroy Garlic Festival

Gilroy Garlic Festival
Gilroy Garlic Festival
Status	Ceased
Genre	Fairs
Begins	Last Friday in July
Ends	Following Sunday
Frequency	Annually
Venue	Christmas Hill Park
Location(s)	Gilroy, California
Coordinates	36°59′52″N 121°35′7″W
Country	United States
Years active	1979–2019, 2021
Website	gilroygarlicfestival.com

The Gilroy Garlic Festival was a food festival in the United States, held annually from 1979 to 2019 at Christmas Hill Park in Gilroy, California, on the last full weekend in July. After cancellation in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a drive-through festival was held on July 23–25 and 30–31 July and August 1, 2021. In April 2022, the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association announced the indefinite suspension of the traditional large-format festival, and that it would instead host smaller individual events. In May 2022, the festival was canceled permanently.

An annual three-day event, the Gilroy Garlic Festival was one of the country's best known food festivals, drawing visitors from across the nation. Located about 30 miles (48 km) southeast of San Jose, Gilroy is home to about 60,000 people, and the city is a major producer of garlic. The festival was Gilroy's top fundraiser, staffed with volunteers to raise money for nonprofit groups including clubs and schools.

History

The inaugural Garlic Festival was held in 1979. Rudolph J. Malone, then President of Gavilan College in Gilroy, was inspired by a small town in France which hosted an annual garlic festival and claimed to be the "Garlic Capital of the World." Malone started the festival, which attracted more than hundreds of thousands of paying visitors a year.

2019 shooting

On July 28, 2019, a mass shooting occurred at the 41st edition of the festival. Three people were killed, in addition to the gunman, and 12 others were injured.

COVID-19 pandemic and cancellation

The festival was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while 2021 saw a drive-thru festival. In April 2022, the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association announced that the event will be canceled indefinitely due to prolonged losses, "lingering uncertainties from the pandemic," and "prohibitive insurance requirements by the City of Gilroy" since the 2019 shooting. The association reportedly announced it would instead hold smaller events spread throughout the year. The festival is now confirmed to be canceled indefinitely.