Excitement is building for the 2012 South Cariboo Garlic Festival at the Felker Homestead at 118 Mile 9 (north of Lac la Hache).
It takes place Aug. 25-26 with scores of vendor booths, top-notch entertainment and all the garlic you can eat.
This local celebration of the “stinkin’ rose” began in 2000 with a modest gathering, but it gained instant appeal, and this year, festival director Jeanette McCrea is expecting to see 3,000 visitors come through the gate.
A weekend pass is $5, and folks will need two days to take in everything on the eight-hectare (20-acre) site. Children 12 years and under are admitted free.
Entertainment will be non-stop with singers, bands, dancers, children’s entertainers, and for the grown-ups, Elvis (tribute artist Steve Elliott).
This year, audience members can watch the stage in shaded comfort. McCrea says the new addition of a cover over a dozen or so log tables in the adjacent picnic site will make a nice difference.
At noon on Sunday, there is the Master Garlic Chef Cook-off during which the recipe deemed the best will win $1,000 cash.
People have until July 31 to enter their printed recipes for consideration and the top 3 will move to Sunday’s cook-off. Master Chef entry rules and information about the festival can be found on the festival website at www.garlicfestival.ca.
Hours for the festival are Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
There is plenty of free parking on site and there is a strict “no pets” policy for the festival grounds.
Volunteers for the event are needed and those interested can contact McCrea through the website.
