Although Centre Square is still encumbered with blocked-off work zones here and there, Garlic Fest will still celebrate its 19th weekend stinking up the heart of Easton, construction be damned.
The city’s annual festival celebrating the odorous Allium sativum, more commonly known as garlic, returns for another year with plenty of vendors, contests activities and, most importantly, smells in tow. Garlic Fest kicks off at 10 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday this weekend, running until 6 p.m. on both days.
There are over 120 vendors slated to hawk their wares during the festival, whether those wares include fresh garlic, prepared food, packaged food or adult beverages. Vendor stands will be scattered around Centre Square and the surrounding streets.
There will be nine farm vendors selling fresh garlic and other garlic-based products, all of which can be found on the Garlic Fest website’s vendor page. Plenty of Easton’s local bars and restaurants will be out selling beer, wine and very garlicky food, including Porter’s Pub, Two Rivers Brewing Company, The Bayou, Aman’s Artisan Indian Cuisine, The Iron Mule, Ciao Sandwich Shoppe and a lot more.
One of the other vendors, Third Street’s Tandoor Grill, will have a slightly elevated role, as the restaurant’s Karnail Singh is this year’s Headline Chef. Most notably, Singh will team up with Easton Mayor Sal Panto for the annual Mayors’ Cook Off — they’ll face off against Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk and Phillipsburg Mayor Todd Tersigni, who’ll bring their own local chefs to the duel, which is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Of course, that’s not the only competition in store for the weekend, as local chefs will take each other on in two cook-offs with mystery ingredients — one at 3 p.m. on Saturday and the other at 1 p.m. on Sunday — and, new to this year’s festival, a chef’s choice cook-off, scheduled for 3 p.m. on Sunday. Plus, at 2 p.m. on both days, the “Little Stinkers Row” will host the Culinary Kids Cooking Contest for kids ages 8 to 12. Sign-ups open at 11 a.m. on both days.
Perhaps the two most anticipated contests require some audience participation. The Gastric Garlic People’s Choice Contest and Dangerous Desserts People’s Choice Contests — both scheduled for noon to 2:30 p.m. with the former on Saturday and the latter on Sunday — need 400 and 200 people, respectively, to sample and vote on garlicky dishes and desserts made by local chefs.
In addition to the litany of concerts, there is of course plenty of live music across three stages — the Main Stage, the Sizzlin’ Latin Quarter and the School of Rock Stage. They will have bands and DJs going throughout the festival to provide a soundtrack to all of the garlic consumption.
More information about vendors, events and schedules can be found on Garlic Fest’s website, eastongarlicfest.com.
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