Is the Gilroy Garlic Festival back on? Major California operator says it will save event

The organizers of one farm-oriented festival in Northern California appear to be trying to save another popular event.

The Noceti Group, organizer of the San Joaquin Asparagus Festival, announced on Facebook on Sunday that it intends to save the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival.

Organizers of the popular Bay Area food and entertainment festival had announced in April they intended to shut down the event, according to the Gilroy Dispatch newspaper.

Details were sparse about the festival’s apparent comeback.

“We heard the extremely sad news that the Gilroy Garlic Festival will not be holding their annual big Garlic festival. We just couldn’t let that happen!” read a post on the San Joaquin Asparagus Festival’s Facebook page. “The Noceti Group is thrilled to announce we will be hosting the Garlic Festival this year. More details to come soon! Stay tuned!”

In a statement issued Monday, the board of directors of the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association said it had not been contacted directly by the Noceti Group about potentially reviving the festival.

“Stockton is not the successor of our community’s homecoming event to support our essential non-profits here in Gilroy, the Garlic Capital of the World,” the statement read. “The board is happy to see the enthusiasm the Noceti Group has for Garlic but asks that they communicate directly with the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association with those ideas.”

Gilroy Garlic Festival organizers cited the COVID-19 pandemic and “prohibitive insurance requirements by the city of Gilroy” in their decision to stop hosting the large-scale event of years past, according to the Dispatch. The festival has been held for 42 years.

According to the festival’s website, a golf tournament is still on schedule for June 24 and a concert will be held at the Clos La Chance Winery on July 13.

This story was originally published May 1, 2022 at 11:53 AM.