The Hudson Valley Garlic Festival returns to Cantine Field in Saugerties on Saturday, September 30 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, October 1 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Single-day admission costs $10 at the gate and it’s a rain-or-shine event. Advance tickets cost $7 for adults and $5 for seniors over age 65, available online and at all Adams Fairacre Farm locations and Smith’s Hardware, M&T Bank and Sawyer Savings in Saugerties until 5 p.m. on September 30. Children under age 12 are admitted free when accompanied by an adult.
The Garlic Marketplace will have an abundance of farmers and growers selling softneck garlic and the harder-to-find hardneck garlic along with garlic scapes: those curling extensions of the stalk that appear about a month after the first leaves when it’s growing. Usually they get cut off and tossed out, since they’ll divert the plant’s growing strength away from the bulb; but the scapes are edible and can used as an ingredient in cooking or chopped in a salad for delicate garlic flavor. Garlic-based products likely to be available at the festival include salsa, hummus, pasta sauce, sausage, pickles, olives, cheese and even chutney, as well as garlic caramels, fudge and ice cream.
In addition to all the garlic activity, live entertainment will be provided by Ian Flanigan, Annie and the Hedonists, Mark Rust, the Bondville Boys, James Rissacher, Bells & Motley Olden Music/Dance and Storytelling, the Homegrown String Band and Sundad. There will be traditional harvest dancing by the Morris dancers, and One World Puppetry’s Garlic Giant and Garlic Fairy will walk the festival grounds. Saugerties-based Arm-of-the-Sea Theater will perform the Turtle Island Medicine Show, featuring their blend of live music and larger-than-life puppet characters that appeal to adults as well as kids. The craft vendors will be out in force and the children’s area will feature pumpkin-decorating and other fun activities, face-painting and a climbing wall.
Chef demos and lecturers include Saugerties-based chefs and restaurateurs Jorge Rodriguez of the Main Street Restaurant and Ric Orlando of New World Home Cooking, chef Noah Sheetz and vegetable expert Crystal Stewart from Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County.
And don’t forget to cast a vote for your favorite poster for next year’s Hudson Valley Garlic Festival. The Kiwanis Club of Saugerties, which puts on this garlic extravaganza every year, sponsors an annual poster contest in which artists submit designs in advance, and then the three finalists are displayed at the Garlic Festival at the information/press tent. The public chooses the winner from those three, based on creativity, originality and a style that would translate well into tee-shirt design, promo posters and printed materials for next year’s event. The winner receives cash and a poster and tee-shirt featuring his or her design, and the pleasure of seeing their work in the upcoming year promoting the 2018 incarnation of the Festival to come.
Preferred on-site parking is available for the annual festival, offering the only on-site parking available within the complex. The cost is $10 per vehicle, which allows parking several hundred feet from the festival entry booth on Small World Avenue. Preferred parking saves the hassle of taking shuttle buses or walking varying distances from satellite parking lots. On-site RV parking is available with electrical and water hookups. To purchase a preferred parking pass, use the link provided when purchasing advance tickets for the festival at www.hvgf.org or access the link directly at www.kiwanisicearena.com/garlicfestivalpremiumparking.
Cantine Field is a non-smoking facility, and no pets are allowed on festival grounds. Cantine Field is located at Washington Avenue Extension. More information is available by visiting www.hvgf.org.
Join the family! 
