Here's Where You Can Sample 300 Garlic-Inspired Foods In One Place

Garlic has been repelling vampires and attracting festival-goers around the world for years. The Isle of Wight Garlic Festival has been shining a light on the edible bulb since 1983 and embraces the motto, "Eat, drink, stink." Over in Ontario, Canada, people can find the Perth Lions Garlic Festival, which has a smiling social media mascot that declares, "It's chic to reek" (via Facebook). There, so-called "garlic heads" can congregate to try and chat about garlic. And when California's Gilroy Festival got too costly for the city of Stockton stepped up to give garlic lovers a new venue in August (via NBC Bay Area).

Stockton won't host the Golden State's only odorous festival this year. In Fresno, California, another garlic extravaganza is trying to take the ingredient to the next level. FOX 26 News reports that from May 13 to 15, the National Garlic and Food Expo is taking over the Fresno Fairgrounds to offer up over 300 different kinds of food and drinks based on the ingredient. This may sound like an impossible number of items, but it seems that people found very creative uses for the cloves.

According to FOX 26 News, free garlic ice cream is one of the many food options. A reporter sporting a puffy garlic hat spoke with the organizer, Peter De Young, who said attendees were welcome to try garlic beer. Presumably, that welcome didn't extend to the gaggle of people dressed like Dracula who sported anti-garlic protest signs. De Young also mentioned that there would be five bars and just as many music stages. In addition to musicians, the festival boasts famous names in food. Among them is Martin Yan, who has spent decades cooking in front of the camera. Yan shared in a pre-festival interview that he's an avid garlic eater who uses the ingredient in breakfast lunch, and dinner (via YouTube). Also on the list of celebs is Rocco DiSpirito, who promoted the event on Twitter. Even Colonel Sanders himself, Mario Lopez, decided to come.

The press release also mentioned a plan to transform a local theater into a kitchen stadium, so you can keep your fingers crossed that there will be an epic story about an "Iron Chef"-style cooking challenge that made each competitor use garlic creatively. The presenters also want to do a bit of good with the festival and have invited healthcare workers to the events for free. Perhaps the only way the event could be more garlicky is if it had fallen on National Garlic Day, which actually lands on April 19, per National Day Calendar.