The Garlic Festival

The garlic festival at Buchlovice has been intriguing me for a couple of years now, and this year I finally had a chance to attend.

The festival takes place annually on the grounds of the Buchlovice chateau and celebrates garlic and all things connected with it. With events like the singing of the garlic hymn and the drinking of garlic milk (to synchronize breath), Mr Quinky and I felt that we had to investigate.

Having arrived early we spent some time exploring the grounds of the chateau, which were a mix of beautifully manicured formal gardens and quite informal parkland. The chateau itself is also a wonderful example of a small baroque chateau. We decided against taking a tour but did have the chance to peek into the huge commercial wine cellar, which had detailed descriptions of the many different varieties on offer and an expert on hand to help with your choices.

The events of the garlic festival were taking place at the bottom of the garden and began with the singing of the hymn and the drinking of garlic milk, which was a yoghurt-like drink strongly flavoured with you-know-what.

As well as having a humourous side, there were also quite few serious stalls selling different products including that of the aristocrat of garlic, selling different varieties in bulk. A bakery stall offered garlic pastries for free, and garlic toast, garlic potato pancakes, garlic wreathes and sheathes of garlic were all available for purchase. There was also plenty of special garlic-free beer being consumed.

Perhaps it was just the heat of the day and the fact that so much was packed into such a small space, but it soon seemed that the serious side of the festival was outweighing the humorous, and we decided to shorten our visit a little, even though it meant missing out on the garlic race and the crowning of Miss Garlic. Oh well, there’s always next year.