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California's beloved Gilroy Garlic Festival has been canceled this year and the future of the annual event is uncertain said organizers, according to the Associated Press. The celebration has been a yearly tradition for over 40 years and always draws massive crowds over the three days.
“Due to lingering uncertainties from the pandemic, along with the prohibitive insurance requirements by the City of Gilroy, the Gilroy Garlic Festival Board has decided not to move ahead with a traditional festival for 2022 — and perhaps the foreseeable future,” the festival association announced in a social media post on Friday, April 22.
The association said the city required that the festival have more insurance than the minimum general liability coverage of $1 million. However, the festival has been facing problems long before the pandemic. Past president of the group, Tom Cline, told The Mercury News that the event has faced financial challenges in eight of the last 10 years. Furthermore, in 2019 a 19-year-old gunman opened fire at the event, killing three people and wounding 13 others before killing himself. According to AP, related lawsuits are pending. The association statement also pledged to find a way to hold a "more intimate, local festival."