Garlic Festival gives tens of thousands to charity after first year back

"The Gilroy Garlic Festival raised over $74,000 for local nonprofits in its first year returning from a six-year hiatus and organizers are now looking to next year's festival with the goal of growing its attendance and impact. It's the crowning jewel for our organization. This is what we do all of this for is giving back, said Paul Nadeau, the 2025 president of the Garlic Festival Association. We're just looking forward to multiplying that."

"Since the Garlic Festival began as a humble luncheon in 1978, it grew into a phenomenon with an annual attendance of around 100,000 for nearly four decades, attracting curious foodies, famous chefs and garlic fanatics from around the world for garlic ice cream, shrimp scampi and pepper steak sandwiches. The event was nearly entirely run by some 4,000 volunteers and gave out hundreds of thousands of dollars every year, offering a lifeline to more than a hundred charities and nonprofit organizations throughout the city."

"Then in 2019, a gunman opened fire on the festival's last day, wounding 17 people and killing three: 6-year-old Stephen Romero of San Jose; 13-year-old Keyla Salazar of San Jose; and 25-year-old Santa Cruz resident Trevor Irby. In the aftermath, the community lost its most cherished annual affair and both COVID and rising insurance rates made bringing the festival back a longshot."

The Gilroy Garlic Festival returned after a six-year hiatus, drawing 9,000 visitors over three days and raising $74,638 for 33 volunteer groups. Organizers aim to increase attendance and expand the festival's impact next year. Since 1978 the event evolved from a humble luncheon into an attraction that for nearly four decades drew about 100,000 attendees annually, featuring garlic ice cream, shrimp scampi and pepper steak sandwiches. The festival was largely run by roughly 4,000 volunteers and historically distributed hundreds of thousands of dollars yearly to more than 100 charities, providing about one-third of the Chamber of Commerce funding. A 2019 mass shooting, COVID and rising insurance costs paused the festival until its revival; the event has raised over $12 million across 46 years.

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