Highwood To Stage First Ever Garlic Festival
HIGHWOOD, Ill. (CBS) -- The north suburban city of Highwood is making the bold move of calling itself: "the city that stinks" -- though only for a little while -- during next week's First Annual Garlic Festival.
As WBBM Newsradio's John Cody reports, the brains behind the festival is Ald. Eric Falberg, who also dreamed up the Bloody Mary festival from which the northern suburb is still recovering.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio's John Cody reports
Podcast
Falberg says the Highwood Annual Garlic Festival will have everything you'll need, including garlic candy and garlic ice cream, as well as the more usual pastas, sauces and butters. But the garlic queen is a little slow to materialize, with only three contestants so far.
"We had, like, three contestants. I think they were scared away by the talent competition. So we might do away with the talent competition," he said.
But for this festival, Highwood is still seeking garlic queen entrants, who will wear an evening gown and give a two-minute garlic related speech for the festival.
Among the other events are the mini-avalanche ice cream eating contest, and the "Terrific Tomato" contest in which organizers will photograph the finest tomatoes in the suburb's gardens, and judge them in 28 categories.
And the Garlic Queen must be a female high school graduate between the ages of 18 and 30. The winner will receive $1,000 in cash and will represent Highwood in public appearances, while the first and second-runner up will receive prizes of $500 and $250, respectively.
The Garlic Festival is set for Wednesday, Aug. 17. For more information, click here.
