AFTERNOON is an interesting time of day at the Koonya Garlic Festival. We’ve already had the serious business of the garlic competition, a test of judges’ eyesight, ability to determine the entry’s health, and critically, their palate.
The winners are now on display for the curious.
This year, entries came from more than 60 farmers, requiring a process that took an entire day, in this case the day before the festival itself.
Local farmer and organiser of this competition section, Geoff Dugan, says garlic is originally from Afghanistan, and thus prefers colder climates like Tasmania.
“I’ll be the first to tell you our garlic is a little more expensive,” says the man who around here is called Doctor Garlic. “But the reason is there in the taste.”
“Tasmanian garlic will hold a better flavour for longer, much longer than the imported stuff.”
Around him, the 3,500-plus people that have filled the paths and paddocks around the Koonya Community Hall in this usually tiny town on a warm summer’s day, are clearly enjoying themselves.
Some 70-plus stalls for food, beverage and festival staples have been arranged in neat rows, the hall itself set aside for the more formal presentations and information sessions.
Information sessions are of course, garlic-related, although some quietly segue into honey or garliccompatible whiskies. The fact that the entire event runs like clockwork and the grounds, roadsides and carparks are as clean as a whistle, is down to a group of more than 50 “Crew-tagged” volunteers.
The SES has provided a team from Sorell while the St John’s Ambulance team has had a quiet day, at most dispensing a few Band-Aids and sunscreen.
Over on a separate music stage is a steady stream of first-class music acts, finishing up with the quartet, Up Jumped Trouble.
Festival committee president Nikki Manley, in her first year as president, has taken a moment in the afternoon to listen to the band and the jokes that accompany their intros. She seems to be crying, just a little.
So how did it go? It turns out she’s weeping, just a little, because she’s happy it’s gone so well. For her, and about 3,500 fellow 2023 Koonya Garlic Festival-goers.