Revelstoke’s iconic Garlic Fest returns to Queen Elizabeth Park Sept. 13 to 14, bringing two days packed with over 70 food and craft vendors, live entertainment and most importantly, plenty of garlic!
Run by the Revelstoke Local Food Initiative (LFI), the event serves as a fundraising opportunity to support local growers, contribute to and celebrate the region’s agricultural community.
“We’ve got a really cool event planned this year,” Mia Knobler, LFI events coordinator said. “It’s about promoting local food, but also an opportunity to celebrate local artists and showcase all parts of Revelstoke!”
Two days of stink
The festival will kick off Saturday afternoon with the Big Stink at 1 p.m., right after the morning farmers’ market. Expect a lively mix of music into the evening, featuring sets by local DJs and bands, including Bobert and Sk8 Nite.
There will be food trucks, a beer garden and activities including face painting and balloon artists, enough to keep festivalgoers of all ages entertained until the celebration winds down at 8 p.m.
Sunday, also known as the Stink Tank is all about the vendors and the garlic! On Sept. 14 local stalls will sell garlic, fresh produce and a range of handmade and artisanal goods.
The day will be interactive, including a growing garlic workshop, live cooking with garlic demos by local chefs and the return of the beloved Pie Contest and Chicken Bingo. Sunday’s soundtrack will be a chill, country vibe hosted by Gabbie Cournoyer, the perfect backdrop to getting amongst the garlicy fun!
The story of Garlic Fest
Garlic Fest was a start-up by Stu Smith and Sarah Harper back in 2013 as a natural extension of their business, Track Street Growers, an urban farm born from their love of growing food and connecting their harvest to food consumption.
From its “rootsy and backyard” beginnings, it steadily grew as an annual event. With increased vendors and the addition of live music, it peaked in 2019 with 1,600 people on their Revelstoke property.
In 2015, Smith started growing specialty peppers which eventually sparked the festival’s rebrand to Stoke the Fire in 2021, with a focus on delicious hot sauces. As their business expanded space and time became limited, prompting them to pass the baton to LFI, which brought the iconic festival to Queen Victoria Park in 2022.
“We dreamed to see it at Queen Victoria Park, and it’s so wonderful that vision has been realized,” Smith said.
Reimagining roots
Now based in Cawston, Garlic Fest’s founders are looking forward to coming back and reuniting with the community, bringing with them new launches in their hot sauce range.
“This is the town that encouraged and supported this endeavour, regular people rooting for this idea to come to reality,” Smith said. “It is always so
wonderful to come back and see the community.”
Bird Urban Tree Farm, a local vendor that began as a small urban farm growing seedlings is also returning in 2025. The business now grows a wide range of produce and cut flowers, with two leased properties housing crops.
A familiar face at Garlic Fest, it will again offer lots of cured garlic in Music and Metechi variety for those looking to plant their stock for fall and early winter. Kristina Metzlaff, owner of Bird Urban Tree Farm, will also be selling bulk tomatoes and cut flowers, and this year is adding dried flowers to her stall.
“The garlic harvest is an intense period in terms of labour – with the people, and the hours you need specifically, to harvest and clean the crop,” Metzlaff explained. “One of the great things about the Garlic Festival is the volume of sales, which can help offset the harvest.”
As the 2025 Garlic Fest takes on new avenues, a respect for the growers and their passion remains at the heart of this festival.
“It is the love of growing that was the motivator for what we do, and still is,” Smith said.
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