Gilroy Garlic Festival gracing Gilroy Gardens after 6 years
GILROY, Calif. (KION-TV) -- The Gilroy Garlic Festival is gracing Gilroy Gardens this year, where it is making its return.
Tragedy struck the festival 6 years ago when 3 people were killed back in July of 2019, when a 19-year-old gunman began firing at people.
The gunman died within about a minute after shooting, but not before taking the lives of 13-year-old Keyla Salazar, 25-year-old Trevor Irby, and 6-year-old Stephen Romero. The cowardly act also wounded 17 others.
Many changes are coming to this year's garlic festival, including venue and size. But the taste and smell, which people say matter the most, will be the same.
"I can almost smell the garlic already," said Randy Moeller, who volunteers at Gilroy Gardens.
After many years without a Gilroy Garlic Festival, this year, organizers are putting the festival back on the calendar.
"It's not just a local attraction; it is the whole bay area, and then some," said Moeller.
While the sign at the entrance to Christmas Hill Park says home of the Gilroy Garlic Festival this year, the festival will be at Gilroy Gardens. A different venue means a change in capacity.
"Our average was about 40,000, between 30 and 40,000 on Saturday, sunday. Going to have much less naturally because we're looking at about 3,000 a day for that weekend," said Tom Cline, Gilroy Councilmember.
Cline says the smaller venue and the fences surrounding the theme park will help with security. Besides that, there will be the same security measures as before.
There were plans to move the festival to other cities like Stockton, but Cline says what makes the town unique, shouldn't leave.
"You can't bottle what we have and take it somewhere else. It's what makes us who we are, yuri, the spice of life. And the taste of garlic, all those things that represent gyori, and it makes us who we are, uniquely known throughout the world as the garlic capital of the world," said Cline.
KION asked if the festival will be held here at Gilroy Gardens, to which Cline answered that they would have to wait and see if this year is a success.
The festival will be held on the last weekend of july.
Tickets for the event will be available online only with no tickets available at the gate.
