City: Palm Beach, FL

Category: Annual Events & Festivals

Telephone: (561) 279-0907

Description: A garlic festival? In Delray Beach, Florida? Nobody plants “the stinking rose” here. Nobody grows it. Nobody exports it. Nobody imports it. Well, the founders of this event must have known something—because their crazy little idea has since grown into one of the largest festivals in South Florida. And its allure has extended way beyond garlic lovers.This mid-Feb event is now a big happening, and tens of thousands of people flock to be part of it each year. There are now many other foods besides garlic on display, as well as cooking and kitchen utensils, handicrafts, and housewares. Half-a-dozen bands—both local and national—play over the weekend, from reggae to rock. There’s great finger-lickin’ food all over the place. There’s Garlic University, an interactive play and educational area for kids. At Gourmet Alley you can sample the festival’s signature dish—flaming shrimp scampi (with garlic, of course)—in addition to garlic crab cakes, garlic bruschetta, garlic pizza, garlic Argentine barbecue with garlic black beans and rice, garlic portobello sandwiches, and many other dishes. You can roam through the International Wine Garden, wet your whistle at the Garlic Oasis Bar, and watch the Smokin’ Hot & Spicy Fire Fighter Barbecue Competition and the Garlic Chef Competition. Admission is charged.