Garlic Festival

Vampires beware! It is time for the 20th annual Connecticut Garlic & Harvest Festival on Saturday and Sunday, October 11th and 12th at the Bethlehem Fairgrounds. The festival comes just in time for garlic lovers to load up on the pungently aromatic vegetables before the blood-sucking night perambulators emerge for Halloween.

Garlic’s reputation as a vampire repellant is rooted in ancient times and was cemented into popular lore with Bram Stoker’s 19th-century classic, Dracula. It’s doubtful that anyone was ever saved from vampirism by garlic but most garlic lovers could care less about that—no, they flock to it because it can be used in countless savory dishes from soups and sauces to meats and pastas.

Visitors to the Garlic & Harvest Festival, one of New England’s largest food festivals. can view garlic cooking demonstrations that may inspire them to try new dishes, learn how to grow garlic at informative lectures and sample or buy fresh garlic, crafts and specialty foods from the 250 vendors on site.

There will be live entertainment as well as bounce houses, pony rides and a petting zoo for the kids. Two food courts will serve up homemade roasted garlic sausage with peppers and onions, wood-fired garlic pizzas, specialty garlic sliders, deep-fried garlic and garlic ice cream.

Admission is $10 for adults and $1 for children younger than 12, cash only, at the ticket gates and the vendors. The Garlic Festival is handicap accessible, with handicap drop-off in front of the Bethlehem Fair office house. No canines, except service dogs, are allowed on the grounds.