By Christina Georgiou
The odor of garlic will once again waft across Centre Square this weekend, heralding the return of the city's “stinkiest” street festival, the Easton Garlic Fest.
Living up to its motto of “Eat, Drink, Stink,” the Easton Garlic Fest is a tribute to the odiferous bulb in all ways.
More than 25 vendors, along with those regularly at the Easton Farmers' Market, will sell food, offer free samples and get in on the action, which includes numerous cook-offs and culinary demonstrations, as well as contests, all of which involve, unsurprisingly, lots of garlic.
The festival has grown over the years, said organizer Jo Moranville, co-owner of the Quadrant Bookmart and Coffee House, and this year will bring some small changes and two new competitive culinary events to the festival too.
New this year is the “Mystery Basket Competition,” where two chefs, Abe Lopez of Easton's Valencia and Tyler Baxter of Allentown restaurant Cosmopolitan, will be handed identical but unknown baskets filled with food supplies chosen by three shoppers from the Easton Farmers' Market. They will then use their expertise and culinary imaginations in a cook-off, with featured chef Susan Roth hosting and a panel of judges choosing the winner live in front of the gathered audience.
“The deal is, it's all from the market,” Moranville said. “It should be very exciting.”
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| Photos contributed by the Easton Garlic Fest |
This year's live cooking events will take place on only two stages this year, though an even fuller complement of events is planned, she said. Hopefully, the move will make for an even more intense experience for festival guests, who will be able to catch all of the action very easily.
“There will be a lot of professionalism,” Moranville said of the planned cook-offs and demonstrations.
In addition to the live cooking on stage, there will also be ample opportunity for the public to get in on the action too, with people's choice events planned for both days.
The “Gastric Garlic People's Choice” contest returns for another year at the Pungent Plaza on Saturday. Also at that venue is another new event on Sunday—the “Dangerous Desserts People's Choice” contest, which will explore “the sweet side of the stinkin' rose.” Both events, which require a small fee to participate, are limited to the first 200 people in line, and getting there early is highly recommended.
There's also a wine and beer tasting tent hosted by the “BEERmuda Triangle”—Porters' Pub, Black & Blue and the soon-to-open Two Rivers Brewing Company, perfect to complement the numerous garlicky goodies that are offered both for sale and as free samples.
No festival would be complete without live music, and the Easton Garlic Fest will be host to a number of live local bands throughout the two days, including the Lehigh Valley Italian-American Band, The Billies, musicians from the Easton School of Rock, The Billy Bauer Band, The Large Flowerheads and the Deadliners. For exact times and locations, check the fest schedule of events.
As the festival grows to become what is probably the largest and most well-attended annual city event other than Heritage Day, organizing it has become an almost overwhelming task, Moranville said, but she's confident it's more than worth the effort.
“We expect this year will be exceptional,” she said.
For the more information, a complete vendor list and the full two-day schedule, visit www.eastongarlicfest.com
Full disclosure: The author of this article and publisher/editor of The Easton Eccentric will once again be an emcee at this event. Be sure to stop by the “Stinkin' Culinary” stage on Saturday, or the “Farm to Market” stage on Sunday and say hi!
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