The fundraiser will benefit Carroll High School with a stinkin’ good time

Garlic Fest in Dayton is returning to Carroll High School for their 7th festival after taking the year off in 2020 because of COVID-19. Lisa Grigsby, founder and organizer of Garlic Fest, has high hopes for the 2021 festival.

The Dayton Garlic Fest began in the 1990s at Cox Arboretum, but Grigsby and her team got permission to take it over after it ended. Beginning in 2014, the modern Garlic Fest began as an annual fundraising event.

“It’s a celebration of garlic,” Grigsby says. “Part of it is, it’s grown locally. So that gave us a reason right there to be able to support local farmers.”

The “granddaddy” of all garlic festivals is the Gilroy Garlic Fest in California, according to Grigsby, which is another part of the inspiration for the Dayton festival.

Grigsby is also the co-owner of Planned2Give, a local company that creates and executive “high profile special events that will raise awareness and funds for local non-profit organizations.” Her company has worked with the Epilepsy Foundation, the Boys and Girls Club and other various nonprofit organizations.

Garlic Fest 2021 will feature a variety of attractions. There will be a garlic-eating contest, where contestants sit down and eat as many cloves of garlic that they can in 3 minutes. In 2017, Mohammed Redha, owner of the Gyro Palace in Dayton, won the competition by eating 11 garlic cloves in 3 minutes.

There will also be cooking demos from local chefs Aimee Saling and Summer Keys showing attendants new ways to use garlic in a dish. Other events include the Bocce Bash, live music, 15 food vendors (who are required to have at least one garlic item on their menu), and more than 25 craft vendors.

This year’s Garlic Fest will take place from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, July 24, at Carroll High School and proceeds will benefit Carroll High School’s athletic fund.