CALIFORNIA’S MUCH-BELOVED GARLIC FESTIVAL IS HEADING TO THE CENTRAL VALLEY
Northern California’s legendary garlic celebration returns once again this summer — though it’ll be in a new home, about 50 miles away from the allium’s ancestral lands of Gilroy. In August 2024, the California Garlic Festival is moving to the Merced County Spring Fairgrounds in Los Banos. ABC 7 reports the popular annual event will run from August 30 to September 1 from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. at 403 F Street in Los Banos.
Eater SF reached out to the team behind the California Garlic Festival and will update this story as soon as more information is available.
According to the festival website, the three-day event will offer monster truck rallies, carnival games, and, of course, lots of garlic-infused food. Tickets cost $15 for adults, $10 for children ages 6-17 years old, and free for those under 5 years old. The new iteration of the much-loved event will also include a “Cali Garlic Alley” to showcase garlic-y foodstuffs including ice creams and catfish and pesto and more.
Since 2022, the fest has been held at Stockton’s San Joaquin County Fairgrounds after the Gilroy Garlic Festival, the original event hosted for more than 40 years, was canceled “indefinitely” in April 2022. At the time, event organizers told ABC7 News a lack of revenue and gun violence in the community caused the festival to shutter. Ensuing drama followed between the garlic fest organizers and the Noceti Group, organizers of the San Joaquin Asparagus Festival, as the latter claimed online they would revive the event themselves.
2024-04-24T18:04:49Z dg43tfdfdgfd