G-fest first day recap – unfinished draft

The igniting of The Burning Bulb of Gilroy at 9:45 a.m. this morning could only symbolize one thing- the official start of the highly anticipated 35th Annual Gilroy Garlic Festival.
Gilroy could almost taste “the stinking rose” in the air as more than 60 food vendor booths, selling everything from garlic edamame to garlic gator bites on a stick, filled Christmas Hill Park.
Garlic wasn’t the only popular item at the Festival, however. Wine booths were in abundance, as were the people lining up to enter them.
“I’ve come to the Garlic Festival every year except for two since it first started in 1978,” said Laverne Elliot, who was at the Wine Pavilion of Wineries of Santa Clara County with her family.
“It’s his first year,” Elliott added with a smile as she pointed to her grandson, 2-month-old Tristan Brabant.
Gourmet Alley was a hot spot for hungry festival attendees. Pasta Con Pesto, a dish that was prepared at the demonstration stage by Gene Sakahara and Sam Bozzo, popularly referred to as the “SakaBozzo” twins, was sold hot off the skillet at one of the booths in the Alley.
Sakahara and Bozzo have both been presidents of the Garlic Festival in the past and recently wrote a cookbook together called “Any Bozzo Can Cook” which is for sale at the Mercantile.
In addition to eating, the festival had plenty of other fun-filled activities for attendees to participate in. Eighteen entertainers, primarily jazz and rock musicians, performed throughout the day at various stages throughout the park. Kids were occupied with the activities in the Children’s Area, one of which involved a blow up pool and inflatable hamster balls for kids to “walk on water” in.
Though the weather for the following two days of the festival is not anticipated to reach as high as it did today – hitting 89 in the late afternoon – the crowd is expected to be larger on Saturday and Sunday.