Gilroy Garlic Festival

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The Gilroy Garlic Festival is one of the largest food festivals in the United States, held annually in Gilroy, California on the last full weekend in July at Christmas Hill Park. The 28th festival ran from July 28 to July 30, 2006. In 2005 129,644 people attended, sampling such diverse creations as garlic ice cream and garlic french fries. Attendees also enjoy three stages full of musical entertainment, a Great Garlic Cook-off, celebrity cooking demonstrations, a children's area, arts and crafts, and many interactive displays. A Queen of Garlic is also crowned yearly, chosen by a panel of six judges based on her personal interview, talent, garlic speech and evening gown. Her court is also chosen, for the purpose of representing Gilroy at various festivities and "having a garlicy good time with fellow lovers of the pungent bulb". The 2006 Gilroy Garlic Festival Queen is Sheena Torres, who performed a garlic speech at the festival which imitated television personality Rachael Ray's "30 Minute Meals." Over 4000 volunteers from 166 non-profit groups make the festival possible, and over three million people have reportedly come to the festival since it began.

The festival was founded in 1979 by Dr. Rudy Melone, Don Christopher, and Val Filice, and has been a fundraiser for local charities, raising a total of nearly seven million dollars for assorted causes. Individual groups and charities also run booths at the festival, raising additional funds for their causes. The Gilroy Garlic Festival Association is a non-profit organization intended to support non-profit groups and projects in Gilroy.

The Gilroy Garlic Festival is held the last Friday, Saturday and Sunday of each July at Gilroy's "Christmas Hill Park." Receiving up to 400k visitors each year, it creates quite the local traffic jam.