Garlic Lovers Unite: The Glorious Garlic Festival Awaits
Chris Lindstrom hosts a deep dive into the upcoming Glorious Garlic Festival (@gloriousgarlicfestival) happening at the Geneva Lakefront on August 2nd and 3rd. Chris and Reagan Burns discuss the festival's new features, including a family zone and VIP tent, aimed at enhancing visitor experience. Regan shares insights on taking over the festival and her passion for garlic, emphasizing the diversity of vendors and the fresh, local produce available.
Mentions
gloriousgarlicfestival.com - Fox Run Vineyards (@foxrunvineyards) - Three Brothers (@3broswine) - Point of the Bluff (@concertsatpointofthebluff)
Mentioned in this episode:
Joe Bean Roasters
Joe Bean Coffee - Coffee that lifts everyone. https://shop.joebeanroasters.com
Dialed In: A Coffee Podcast
Get Dialed In to the world of coffee with Aaron and Wade! Tastings, coffee news and opinion and more! https://dialedincoffee.captivate.fm
Mind of Magnus
Check out Mind of Magnus at magnusapollo.com, and leave him factoids at 585-310-2473! https://mind-of-magnus.captivate.fm
Transcript
I'm Chris Lindstrom, and this is the Food About Town podcast.
Speaker A:Rochester.
Speaker A:Well, why Rochester?
Speaker A:Chris Lindstrom was a hoot.
Speaker A:He was just so much fun.
Speaker A:He never stopped talking.
Speaker A:I mean, it was great.
Speaker A:Here's a good idea.
Speaker A:Have a point.
Speaker A:It makes it so much more interesting.
Speaker B:For the listener, and we don't need.
Speaker A:Any characters around to give the joint atmosphere.
Speaker A:Is that clear?
Speaker B:I'm a pro.
Speaker A:That's what pros do.
Speaker A:I'm a professional.
Speaker A:Look it up in the book.
Speaker A:But now, yeah, I'm thinking I'm back.
Speaker A:And we are back with another episode of the Food About Town podcast.
Speaker A:And we're here talking about another signature event in Rochester and Rochester expanded Rochester area.
Speaker A:Let's say that with the Rochester Finger Lakes Greater Region, those are words that people use, right?
Speaker B:A combination of some of those, probably.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So we did some Lilac Festival preview with our guest today.
Speaker A:But guest, reintroduce yourself and tell us about the festival we're talking about today.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:My name is Regan Burns, and I do work with the Rochester Lilac Festival, and I also am a co owner of the glorious Garlic festival that's on August 2nd and 3rd this year in Geneva.
Speaker B:So it's only 40 minutes from Rochester, which I think is included in the greater Rochester Finger Lakes region.
Speaker B:Is that what you said?
Speaker A:Yeah, sure.
Speaker A:It's the kind of thing you see in, like, governmental documents.
Speaker A:You're like, is, are we really the same region?
Speaker A:And then you're like, oh, yeah, it is only 40 minutes away.
Speaker A:Which I still think people have this attitude about the Finger Lakes, that it's more of an effort to get out there and legit.
Speaker A:From almost anywhere in Rochester, you can be to Geneva in 45 minutes.
Speaker B:Yeah, I felt the same way when I lived in downtown Rochester.
Speaker B:I didn't want to go beyond five minutes from downtown.
Speaker B:So, yeah, you know, I'm broadening my radius.
Speaker A:So Garlic Fest is one I've gone to a number of times under its prior iteration.
Speaker A:And you started working on this as, like, you as the owner and the, you know, programmer and everything else for it.
Speaker A:This is your second year doing it, right?
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So kind of the historical background of the festival is Fox Run Vineyards ran it for 18 very successful years.
Speaker B:And from what I heard is it just.
Speaker B:It got too big.
Speaker B:It was too popular.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, every time I went, like, that whole place was packed, and it was.
Speaker A:It was a very.
Speaker A:It's a very busy weekend.
Speaker A:But there's only so much space right at.
Speaker A:I mean, they have a Lot of space.
Speaker A:But even then, it seemed like they were overwhelmed all the time.
Speaker B:Well, and it's not just space.
Speaker B:And this is where coming, you know, a festival producer comes in.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:It's bathrooms, it's the security, it's, you know, the first aid, on site, food, beverage, trash, recycling, all the boring stuff, but making sure everyone that is there is comfortable as well.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And especially, like we talked about that with Lilac a lot.
Speaker A:Especially, you know, it's.
Speaker A:It's working.
Speaker A:It's working to remedy perception.
Speaker A:It is also just being good stewards of a festival to have those things taken care of.
Speaker A:But how was it like taking over something that had been running for so long, you know, 18 years at one of, you know, the west side of Seneca Lake's most notable wineries?
Speaker A:I mean, one of the most notable wineries in the Finger Lakes.
Speaker A:How was it taking over from some place that had it for so long?
Speaker B:Yeah, well, we didn't take it over directly from Fox Run, so there was a middleman in there.
Speaker B:So for three years, I believe the Geneva Bid, which is the business industrial district, they took it over.
Speaker B:It's kind of like a chamber of commerce.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So that's who moved it originally to the Geneva Lakefront, and that was the location they operated from.
Speaker B:And within those years, you know, you have Covid and the aftermath of that, there was a lot of things and then just changing of the guard and working within a city municipality, and they had, you know, a lot of their own issues and challenges.
Speaker B:So when we took it over, we actually took it over from Geneva Bid.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But we kept, you know, the relationship with Fox Run.
Speaker B:So they were there last year.
Speaker B:I did radio interviews with the owner, and they were also, you know, they're coming this year as well, so they're still involved.
Speaker B:And I think they, you know, they still love being involved.
Speaker B:It's their baby.
Speaker B:And we try to honor that too, and honor the legacy that they've already created.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So that it has been at the Wakefront for how long now?
Speaker A:So this is the second year you've been running it, but how long has it been at the Wakefront from versus being at Fox Run?
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So I think it's five years at the Lakefront, but there might have been one or two years there that have got missed because of COVID Yeah.
Speaker B:So it might be like seven years since it was originally at Fox Run.
Speaker A:That makes sense.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So when it came to, you know, what was the.
Speaker A:What was the opportunity?
Speaker A:How did that come to you as the opportunity to take over the programming and own, you know, the glorious Garlic Festival that had been going on.
Speaker B:Yeah, kind of random.
Speaker B:So I'm a woman owned business and I responded to a government rfp which is something that's put out when someone is looking.
Speaker B:When a government entity is kind of looking for a private business to do work for them.
Speaker B:So, so I bid and I bid with two business partners that I have that I've worked with on the Rochester Lilac Festival and that's Jenny Lomaglio and Rich Boyan who worked on works a lot of festivals and a lot of events and concerts.
Speaker B:But I knew him from working with him on the Waterfront Art Festival.
Speaker B:So the three of us went in on a bid.
Speaker B:Geneva Bid picked us in another company and said, neither of you are getting the job, but we want to sell the festival to you.
Speaker B:And so we're going to pick who we think could run it the best and we're going to sell the festival to you.
Speaker B:So that is how it all kind of fell into our lap.
Speaker B:And then of course we had to have an internal discussion if we thought that was the fit that we want, wanted.
Speaker B:So it's been really exciting.
Speaker B:I mean I personally love garlic.
Speaker B:I, if I could pick any festival to, to go after, it would be a Garlic festival.
Speaker B:So I'm, I'm happy, I'm happy they picked us.
Speaker B:And we worked closely with Geneva Bid for the transition too.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So were you looking for something like this to be like your signature event?
Speaker B:Not necessarily.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker B:And, and I don't know if I would call it like my signature like signature event either.
Speaker B:Like as I said, I mean Rich has many events, Jenny and myself have a few and so yeah, it kind of just got absorbed into the family.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:I would say.
Speaker A:Yeah, there's nothing wrong with that.
Speaker A:Like it's.
Speaker A:And it's, it's not.
Speaker A:I wouldn't say this is a huge event like the Lilac Fest.
Speaker A:What, what would you describe?
Speaker A:This is like a mid size event.
Speaker A:Like how many, what was the, what was the attendance roughly last year?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So we're looking at about 10, 000 people over the weekend.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:But what's nice about that Lakefront park.
Speaker B:And I was looking at the numbers and looking at how many people were there last year and it was comfortable.
Speaker B:Yeah, you know, cause it's, it's August, it's, it can be hot.
Speaker B:We wanted to make sure we provided shade for people and that people were comfortable.
Speaker B:It wasn't crowded.
Speaker B:You felt the breeze come off the Lake.
Speaker B:It's a beautiful venue.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So, and I. I like that you mentioned that you love garlic because that was one of the places where I had the opportunity, I think, for one of the first times to actually sit and taste.
Speaker A:I tasted different varieties of garlic.
Speaker A:Raw.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker A:And wow, what an instructive experience for, like, a hard tasting nerd.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:To like, sit down and actually like, oh, I can taste.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:All of these side by side and really understand what is the difference between each one, because it's not insignificant.
Speaker A:Like, they are very different from one another.
Speaker B:I agree.
Speaker B:I mean, I shopped myself there last year and got, I think, five different varieties of garlic and taste tested there and then went home and taste tested again.
Speaker B:But what did I. I got a candied garlic, and then there was like a cayenne candied garlic.
Speaker B:I got pesto.
Speaker B:It got just, you know, regular garlic to cook with.
Speaker B:And then while I was there, I tried a garlic ice cream.
Speaker B:And we also have a garlic fudge.
Speaker A:Very cool.
Speaker A:I remember having garlic kettle corn.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:One year.
Speaker A:And I thought that was.
Speaker A:That was pretty delightful.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker A:And, yeah, having, you know, tasting like, you know, the Italian versus, you know, hard German garlic, purple versus not versus these styles, you, you know, elephant garlic and all these different things.
Speaker A:And to know that every single variety is different.
Speaker A:There.
Speaker A:There tends to be this general, like, oh, garlic's garlic.
Speaker A:I'm like, no, just like almost every other thing.
Speaker A:There's a variety.
Speaker A:There's a, you know, every one has its own character.
Speaker A:Just like every, like, variety of peas has a character.
Speaker A:Every variety of green beans has a character.
Speaker A:And it's always interesting to do that.
Speaker A:But that's the other thing.
Speaker A:You can get the raw product.
Speaker A:You can get it in many different forms.
Speaker A:This isn't one.
Speaker A:One garlic experience.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And one of the best parts about shopping there is talking just like any farmer's market, you're talking to the farmer, you're talking to the producer.
Speaker B:And when you hear them talk about their product or, you know, their crop, I love it.
Speaker B:I love hearing the passion behind, you know, a farmer who's out there day in and day out and he's telling you the difference between all those garlics.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I like that.
Speaker A:It's also around harvest time for garlic.
Speaker A:It's not.
Speaker B:There's a reason it's that date.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:That does make me happy.
Speaker A:Because you can have it, like, from carryover, but when you get the stuff that is in season, it does make such a difference, especially with the punchiness, you know, that potency of really fresh and not young garlic because you can get different times but like fully ready to go stuff.
Speaker A:Oh, man, it does make a big difference, that freshness.
Speaker B:I agree.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It reminds me, I have a friend who runs a CSA here and I just tried their celery for the first time.
Speaker B:Have you ever had farm raised celery?
Speaker A:It's such a big difference.
Speaker B:Amazing.
Speaker A:So when you tried it, what.
Speaker A:What was your.
Speaker A:Have you tried something like that before?
Speaker B:No.
Speaker A:So it was.
Speaker A:What was your impression?
Speaker B:It was salty.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:And I was eating it with sunflower nut butter, which is a little, you know, more bland than like peanut butter.
Speaker B:So it's perfect.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I didn't have to add anything.
Speaker B:Like, I had, you know, the base and then the saltiness and the celery.
Speaker B:It was delicious.
Speaker A:But yeah, because it is salty, it's punchy, it's got this watery savoriness.
Speaker A:But the density of flavor in good celery, like it's.
Speaker A:I'm like, oh, wow, this is like four times the celery per celery.
Speaker B:It feels like a different food.
Speaker B:Yeah, really?
Speaker B:Like, like I didn't even recognize it.
Speaker A:I mean, we've taken away so much of the density of flavor in most of our things for durability.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:That, like when you look at classic French cooking and you see the celery dishes, it's celebrating the flavor.
Speaker A:If you used the generic stuff you get at, you know, every grocery store and you cooked those dishes with that ingredient, it wouldn't work.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:It would just be like, oh, it's kind of a whole bunch of nothing.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But when you taste something like that, that punchy flavor.
Speaker A:And to me, that's where, like when I use fresh garlic, I want to.
Speaker A:I want to taste it.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:It's not just throwing it in a sauce because you can cook any garlic and it's.
Speaker A:After you cook it for a while, it kind of all merges together.
Speaker A:But when you use it with lighter cooks or use it in, you know, your sauces or your pestos or other things like that, and use this vibrant, fresh stuff, you get to taste in a way you probably haven't tasted it before, because most of the stuff you get at the grocery store is old.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:The CSA that I'm in, we got garlic as well.
Speaker B:And I've been using that and I haven't even been cooking it, but it is so pungent and tart.
Speaker B:I've been using it in salads and, oh, I love that in the dressing and just that mixed with some olive oil and vinaigrette is magical.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's a whole different world.
Speaker A:Speaking of whole different worlds.
Speaker A:So we talked about the food side and obviously a lot of different vendors.
Speaker A:I know you have food vendors there so you can eat on site too.
Speaker A:Not just, not just snack.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:So actually food you can eat on site too.
Speaker B:Yes, we have food.
Speaker B:I think we have five or six food trucks and.
Speaker B:Or vendors.
Speaker B:And then we also have an alcohol infused ice cream.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker B:Popcorn.
Speaker B:We have two coffee vendors and then we also have three wineries.
Speaker B:So there's Vice, Fox Run and three Brothers.
Speaker A:By the way, I love Weiss.
Speaker B:Me too.
Speaker A:It's so good.
Speaker A:I got a chance to go to their tasting room a couple weekends ago and wow, what a stunning, stunning tasting room they've developed.
Speaker A:It really is.
Speaker A:It's one of the most, one of the most beautiful tasting rooms.
Speaker A:The view from the tasting room is fantastic.
Speaker A:And there's so many different ways you can experience it there.
Speaker A:From more lounge like to like group space to individual tasting to inside to outside.
Speaker A:And they're putting food in.
Speaker A:It's a, it's a star.
Speaker A:And I don't think people understand how good it is.
Speaker A:To my recommendation one go taste.
Speaker A:But to the lean year Gewurzdtra meter.
Speaker A: The: Speaker A:We brought back a few of those for, you know, for drinking at home because it was just such a star.
Speaker A:Yeah, I love that place so much.
Speaker B:I might have tried it last year, I don't know.
Speaker B:But yeah, the nice thing is too.
Speaker B:So all of those wineries and three Brothers also brings warhorse.
Speaker B:So they do the brewery.
Speaker A:Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:We do a wine ballet.
Speaker B:So that was one of the first things that we introduced last year.
Speaker B:And so you can buy full bottles of wine at the festival and we'll save them up front for you.
Speaker B:You don't have to walk around with them.
Speaker B:And as you leave you just pick up whatever your purchases were.
Speaker A:I mean Finger Lakes, that makes so much sense.
Speaker A:Like having that ability to not haul around seven fifties of glass around all day.
Speaker A:A little less fun sounds.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:But then there.
Speaker B:So those vendors are all also serving for consumption on site.
Speaker B:So you can still, you know, it's not like they're just doing a wine tasting.
Speaker B:They're serving glasses of wine as well as selling the bottles and doing tastings.
Speaker A:That's awesome because that's on the, on the food side.
Speaker A:I mean there's a lot going on but I know there's more.
Speaker A:You know, you got the Snacks.
Speaker A:You got the vendors and we talk, kind of talked about the farm stuff with Lilac Fest.
Speaker A:But this is the opportunity to taste a lot of focused farm things.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Are there any that you had, like, really worked on bringing in for this or.
Speaker A:A lot of them, like carryovers.
Speaker B:It's a mix.
Speaker B:I mean, I'm not sure if vice was even there before.
Speaker B:They might have been new.
Speaker A:Yeah, that makes sense.
Speaker B:Yeah, I think they might have been new.
Speaker B:So last year they would have come in.
Speaker B:The alcohol infused ice cream is a contact of mine and there's some coffee vendors.
Speaker B:I think last year we were Edgemere Coffee's maybe like third event ever.
Speaker B:So they were brand new and we were so happy to have them and they killed it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:He's a really interesting guy.
Speaker A:I got to chat with him at the Wildlife Fest.
Speaker A:A little bit interesting guy.
Speaker A:And it's so.
Speaker A:It's so interest.
Speaker A:So different to see the expansion of specialty coffee.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:In Rochester.
Speaker A:And how much it's changed in the last three years.
Speaker A:Like we've doubled or tripled the amount of specialty coffee places that are in town.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:And it's like such a different world than it was.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Before.
Speaker B:And I felt like we had a lot of coffee shops before, but I don't feel like it's overcrowded.
Speaker B:I feel like I still want to go to all of those places.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's.
Speaker A:It has been very interesting.
Speaker A:And when, you know, when you're trying to balance, you know, a 10,000, you know, 10,000 person attendance, how do you work through the amount of vendors?
Speaker A:Like, because this is the stuff, I think when people are running, of people that attend events, they don't always understand the work that goes to decide how many vendors.
Speaker A:It's something I think about a lot because my wife makes her living.
Speaker A:Carrie makes her living selling at conventions.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker A:And the decisions that are made by the events make such a.
Speaker A:They make such an impact on how successful the vendors are.
Speaker A:And successful vendors, one usually means they're satisfying their customers and two, they want to come back.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:How do you work through the balance of, you know, the history of all the vendors, you know, keeping things fresh, not having too many, but not too few vendors.
Speaker A:How do you work through that balance?
Speaker B:Yeah, well, I would say when we took it over, I think there was a decline in the vendors.
Speaker B:So last year we were working with limited time and I want to say we maybe had like 36 vendors.
Speaker B:So we're starting small, whereas this year we're more than double that.
Speaker B:We have the space for it.
Speaker B:So that's not necessarily a concern.
Speaker B:But as you're saying, you want to curate the experience.
Speaker B:We don't want to put two farmers right next to each other.
Speaker B:We don't want to put two pesto people right next to each other, and we want to make sure people are complementing each other.
Speaker B:And we have also started.
Speaker B:For instance, I was at Cornhill this last weekend, and I saw a crochet woman.
Speaker B:And normally you wouldn't think that this woman needs to come to Garlic Fest, but she had crocheted garlic bulbs so cool and plants.
Speaker B:And I had never seen that.
Speaker B:It was like, you need to come.
Speaker B:And I invited her to respond to apply.
Speaker B:So that is part of the curation as well.
Speaker B:Again, at Cornhill, I ran into a peanut butter vendor who had a spicy garlic Thai peanut butter.
Speaker A:Juan, that sounds awesome.
Speaker B:It was so good.
Speaker A:That sounds great.
Speaker B:But again, I was like, okay, this person needs to come too.
Speaker B:I would have never thought peanut butter needed to be at the Garlic Festival, but it fits and it makes sense.
Speaker B:So adding kind of that diversity where not everybody is a garlic farmer and not everybody is a garlic pesto person is important.
Speaker B:And also, you know, we're not a farmer's market.
Speaker B:So as we're curating the experience, we want people to enjoy the festival as a whole and be able to bring your family, you know, come with a loved one, be able to spend a couple hours and actually enjoy the experience, and not just by garlic.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So that being said, I think we're gonna do.
Speaker A:We're gonna take a quick break.
Speaker A:We're gonna come back and talk about the other parts of the festival, you know, the other entertainment things.
Speaker A:And we'll be right back.
Speaker A:And we're back with the second half for our conversation with Reagan Burns from the glorious Garlic Festival in scenic Geneva, New York, on the lakefront in the park.
Speaker A:And what are the dates again?
Speaker B: rd,: Speaker A:And where can people find the information online if they're trying to find that later, if they don't remember all the details?
Speaker B:Yeah, it's a very tricky URL.
Speaker B:Glorious garlicfestival.com look at that.
Speaker A:I probably could have guessed, but I just wanted to make sure.
Speaker A:Yeah, so we finished.
Speaker A:We were talking about garlic.
Speaker A:We were talking about the, you know, the food vendors, but there's also, you know, we were talking about the food presenters and the other ways you're, you know, continuing to evolve what the festival is.
Speaker A:What are the other things?
Speaker A:Like, you're coming with a family.
Speaker A:What what should you expect?
Speaker B:Yeah, so brand new this year.
Speaker B:We didn't have this last year.
Speaker B:We're going to be doing a family zone where we have just some games, you know, for little kids.
Speaker B:Last year I have little kids, so I brought just some things from home, like a kid's picnic table that I just love seeing random kids sit down and use.
Speaker B:You know, they don't need to sit at a full out table.
Speaker A:Well, and that's the thing.
Speaker A:Just having something.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Like makes all the difference.
Speaker A:It also helps you that you're in a park too.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:And all of that's gonna be free.
Speaker B:There's not gonna be like any tickets to go do that recreational stuff.
Speaker B:So it'll just be kind of a corner in the shade for families who need to cool off.
Speaker B:Last year too, we introduced the VIP tent.
Speaker B:So that is a very comfy situation.
Speaker B:It's closest to the lakefront, so you really feel the breeze.
Speaker B:We also have free snacks included in the ticket price.
Speaker B:Air conditioned bathrooms.
Speaker B:And there's a private bar there.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B: hester, which is a green like: Speaker B:So they're going to have a variety of drinks in there.
Speaker B:And then they're also going to be running our VIP bar additionally.
Speaker A:Interesting.
Speaker A:Oh, oh, that's.
Speaker A:That's a really cool vehicle.
Speaker A:That definitely looks like a.
Speaker A:You say looks like a 40s or 30s kind of vehicle.
Speaker A:Oh, that.
Speaker A:That is really interesting.
Speaker B:Unique setup.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:And that's in the family of drink trailers from like Firefly Studios.
Speaker B:I don't know if you've ever talked with them, but we work with them at Lilac Festival and they do a great job.
Speaker B:So we are very excited to have them at Garlic as well.
Speaker A:Very cool.
Speaker A:And then when it comes to entertainment, we were talking about the food stage, you know, the food presentations.
Speaker A:And those are.
Speaker A:Those are events that can be so engaging.
Speaker A:I've been to really bad ones, but I've also been to ones where it's changed the way I cook at home in a way that, you know, you don't forget about.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Or you learn something you never would have thought you were going to learn.
Speaker A:And I think we're talking about a mutual contact who was doing a presentation.
Speaker A:Was it Brud Holland from Fox Run who was on the show a long time ago?
Speaker A:I think when I had Karma Sauce on the first time, I think Brud was there.
Speaker A:And I just had Gene and Vince Press from Karma Sauce yesterday on the podcast.
Speaker A:You have already heard it at this point, but I remember that was when I had him over.
Speaker A:We were tasting hot sauces.
Speaker A:I think I have a picture of him, like, with his eyes streaming from the hot sauce.
Speaker A:So long ago.
Speaker B:Good for him.
Speaker B:I wouldn't even be able to taste it.
Speaker B:Good.
Speaker B:Die.
Speaker A:But I always.
Speaker A:I've always enjoyed his food over at Fox Run, and it's great to have someone like that who has both the knowledge and the charisma to run a very interesting food demo.
Speaker B:Yeah, 100%.
Speaker B:So in terms of stage presence, so we have music all day and then we have half hour interludes where then the food stage is on.
Speaker B:So Brud is going to be doing his presentation Sunday morning in the first slot, and the schedule is available on the website.
Speaker B:And then we also have Dave Weathers, who runs My Baby's Burgers food truck.
Speaker B:And I think last year we were his first event ever.
Speaker B:But if you've never had his burgers, they are amazing.
Speaker B:There's a goat cheese and jelly one that I love.
Speaker B:So he's going to be doing a food demo.
Speaker B:Also Mike's Cesaro, who's another food truck.
Speaker B:And let's see who else.
Speaker B:A couple other local Rochester favorite chefs.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I'm looking at a couple pictures off of their Instagram, the My Baby's Burgers, and I see they're doing a pimento cheese one.
Speaker A:It does look really good.
Speaker A:My only quibble.
Speaker A:So this is my.
Speaker A:I didn't grow up in Rochester thing.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Um, so it's the, you know, that role with the tear in the center, you know, that little.
Speaker A:The little raised roll.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:I've never.
Speaker A:It's never been my kind of role.
Speaker A:It's not my thing.
Speaker A:But growing up in Buffalo, we had so many different options.
Speaker A:We had like the classic, like, hard roles.
Speaker A:We had a lot more of those.
Speaker A:And then of course, we had our beef on weck rolls, which.
Speaker A:Not the same.
Speaker A:Not usable for this kind of thing.
Speaker A:But I just had.
Speaker A:It's been such an adjustment.
Speaker A:I still.
Speaker A:I still don't like them.
Speaker A:I still don't like those rules.
Speaker A:There's something about it just never grabbed me the right way.
Speaker B:Well, I'm gluten free, so I eat them without the rule.
Speaker B:Which is still amazing.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Because I can see the sear on it too, which I really appreciate because that's the work.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Is to get something simple.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:A burger is not complicated.
Speaker A:But every single thing matters.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:The quality of the meat matters.
Speaker A:Your role.
Speaker A:Do you toast the inside of the Roll.
Speaker A:Did you get your balance right?
Speaker A:Like, every little decision matters so much and at the same time, anybody can make it, which is the best and worst thing about them.
Speaker B:But do they?
Speaker B:Yeah, I cook a burger.
Speaker B:No, I do not.
Speaker B:Yeah, I prefer to go to him.
Speaker A:Oh, that's a smart move because that's.
Speaker A:I know you mentioned that a couple times and seems like you definitely enjoy that opportunity to.
Speaker A:To bring in the new vendors that you have you run across during your time being out and about.
Speaker B:Yeah, I think it's important.
Speaker B:You know, Rochester is a city of, you know, where people have their favorites or, you know, they move from Buffalo and.
Speaker B:And they don't want to try new things.
Speaker B:But I like the opportunity to prove people wrong.
Speaker B:Yeah, you know, try it.
Speaker B:You might like it better and just.
Speaker B:It doesn't have to replace what you have, you know.
Speaker B:But also, I'm a small business owner.
Speaker B:I've been a small business owner for 15 years.
Speaker B:I know how hard it is and it can be daunting to come into some of these events.
Speaker B:So we do try to make it as easy as possible.
Speaker B:And vendors who have been coming for years, I mean, a garlic farmer, they're not doing these festivals, you know, they're not doing these big events.
Speaker B:They don't know what to expect.
Speaker B:So we try to make it as low key and easy as possible for them to participate and to succeed at.
Speaker A:Yeah, And I think that makes a lot of sense, like give them the opportunity.
Speaker A:But, you know, those little things make a big difference, especially when you're learning how to do this.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Because it's not.
Speaker A:You can have a started business, but doing the big events or doing events with that many people, you have, sometimes they don't.
Speaker A:You don't know how to prepare for that.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And one of the things that Geneva Bid did, and I'm not sure if Fox Run did this, but they had the option for vendors to either choose to bring their own tent or they could be under the big tent.
Speaker B:So we still kept that for.
Speaker B:As you're saying, if you're just starting out or maybe you don't do that many events a year, you can be under our big tent and we provide the table, the chair, the signage that goes above your booth and the tent, obviously.
Speaker B:So it makes it really turnkey for those people to come in, participate, and then leave.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So you got music now we're in Geneva, we're in the Finger Lakes soon.
Speaker A:We got some country music popping in.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:What do we.
Speaker B:So we have the swooners The Royal Bromleys, Bill Schmidt and the Blues Masters, Sam Niche, Nick Light.
Speaker B:And there's one more I'm missing.
Speaker A:Well, that's.
Speaker A:I think that's the nice thing about that, too.
Speaker A:In that venue, you know, outside in the park in the summer, you can play so many different things that feel like summer.
Speaker A:It doesn't have to be one genre for it to feel like a summer music thing.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Steve Grylls was the one that I was missing.
Speaker B:So he's on.
Speaker B:He's rounding out Saturday.
Speaker B:But, yeah, I agree.
Speaker B:We need music that people can dance to.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, that's very important.
Speaker B:I love how many people.
Speaker B:You know, last year we set up chairs out in front of the stage, thinking people would want to sit there and enjoy the music.
Speaker B:People want to be dancing.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, so we cleared the chairs and we provided more shade.
Speaker B:So it's really just a dance floor at this point, which I love.
Speaker A:Nothing wrong.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I give the people what they want.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So coming into year two, what were the things like going through the first year?
Speaker A:Obviously you had less turnaround.
Speaker A:You mentioned that you had, like, from, was it March to the events to, you know, organize your version of it with, you know, with the team.
Speaker A:So what were the things that after doing it the first time, you were like, this didn't go quite right.
Speaker A:And like, we talked about the changes, but was that from things.
Speaker A:Oh, this didn't quite feel right because with that limited time, you know, you can't figure everything quite yet.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Some small adjustments, like that big ten.
Speaker B:I was saying last year we did two, and that was based on the numbers that Geneva Bid had put out and the vendors they had recruited.
Speaker B:So this year we went down to one and we still have one more spot left.
Speaker B:So I think that was the right decision to cut that back a little bit.
Speaker B:When we got rid of one of those huge 40 by 60 tents, it really allowed us to shift the layout as how it existed before.
Speaker B:So one thing, we're moving.
Speaker B:It wasn't a problem last year, but we wanted to make the food stage really present.
Speaker B:I mean, it's a garlic festival, right.
Speaker B:We all love music, but the food demo should really be the star of the show.
Speaker B:So we moved all of our entertainment into the middle of the field and our food stage and our music stage are back to back.
Speaker B:And they also, you know, they're never going at the same time.
Speaker B:So people can be dancing and then when that band is off, they can go right around the corner and be at the food demo stage.
Speaker B:Whereas last year they were further apart.
Speaker B:And the food demos are awesome because we do at least 50st samples for the audience too.
Speaker B:And yeah, it's usually packed for those, so.
Speaker B:And it's also covered, you know, if you're sitting there watching a food demo and there's heat and things, it can get hot.
Speaker B:So that part is covered.
Speaker B:It's very comfortable.
Speaker B:So that was a big change.
Speaker B:There wasn't too many other things.
Speaker B:We had to shift some things in the layout as well because one of our sponsors.
Speaker B:And with more time, we were able to recruit more sponsors.
Speaker B:One of our sponsors this year, our food tent sponsor is the New York Animal Agricultural Coalition.
Speaker B:And they're bringing in a large 70 foot trailer to basically educate the public about dairy farmers and where milk and cheese comes from and what that looks like in New York State.
Speaker B:And realizing we need to support our farmers in New York to support these industries for sure.
Speaker B:So that's another huge kind of entertainment piece.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker A:And just going through the website for.
Speaker A:For those that always have the question, where can I park for this festival?
Speaker A:It looks like you have a wild amount of parking that is within short walking distance, which is very nice.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So if you've ever been down there, there's Lakefront park, which is just grass, and.
Speaker B:And then there's the I Love New York welcome Center, which is really stunning.
Speaker B:If you have not been down there, that is a great visit as well.
Speaker B:They have a whole store inside that has small business foods and beverages right in the main lobby area.
Speaker B:It's really great.
Speaker B:But on the other side of that, there's a lot more grass before you hit a hotel.
Speaker B:And so that's where our parking is.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker B:So you park and then you can take a nice leisurely stroll down the lakefront and you'll be with us within a couple minutes.
Speaker A:That's awesome.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:And parking is free, by the way.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Which is always a nice thing for everybody.
Speaker A:So this is, you know, what, what, what do you have?
Speaker A:So we talked about the festival.
Speaker A:So again, August 2nd, 3rd over in Geneva, running from, you know, around 10 to 5 or 6, depending on the day.
Speaker A:You know, check glorious garlic festival.com for all of the details.
Speaker A:But what do you have?
Speaker A:What do you have that you're working on other than the festival right now?
Speaker A:Like what, what for you is your, your projects other than the festival that you're working on right now?
Speaker B:We're still actually doing work for Lilac, which is crazy.
Speaker B:That's like a year schedule.
Speaker B:So there's always stuff for that and also our business partner, Rich.
Speaker B:The Waterfront Art Festival is actually the weekend before Glorious Garlic Festival.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:So that's up in Webster, and we're getting ready for that as well.
Speaker B:And then I actually have a bunch of clients that are not festivals.
Speaker B:I guess the closest would be.
Speaker B:I work with concerts at Point of the Bluff, too.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:So I do their marketing.
Speaker B:And we still have 10 or 12 concerts left for the rest of the season, which goes through September.
Speaker B:And we also have concerts at Best hall, and we have some nice shows coming there, like Pat Metheny and Ben Folds this fall.
Speaker B:So working on the promotion of all of those.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Music, music, music.
Speaker A:Seems like a lot of the rest of it.
Speaker B:It's a lot of music.
Speaker B:The not so exciting stuff is I'm also working with, like, a medical psychiatry office and.
Speaker A:Oh, well, I mean, that's.
Speaker A:That's all.
Speaker A:That's the other thing too, is, like, when you're doing that kind of business, like being.
Speaker A:Being open to trying those different things too.
Speaker A:Like, it's nice.
Speaker A:It raises the floor a little bit.
Speaker A:It keeps.
Speaker A:You know, those kind of things always need.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, those businesses always need that kind of support.
Speaker A:And once they work with somebody who's a professional, they're like, oh, yeah, this has made a bit of a difference.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:With getting stuff done.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I've always laughed because in my career, which is like, I don't know, maybe 20 years old, it's been a lot of tourism and festivals and it's been a lot of medical research and medical offices, which in my mind, seemed the furthest apart of two things.
Speaker A:Yeah, a little bit.
Speaker A:Yeah, just a little bit.
Speaker A:But I mean, hey, those.
Speaker A:Those are niches that don't go away.
Speaker A:People gotta eat.
Speaker A:People need medical care, so.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Hopefully not at the same time.
Speaker A:Hopefully not.
Speaker A:Oh, I'm glad to hear that.
Speaker A:Because that I always love to hear when you know somebody who is.
Speaker A:You're running a small business, is keeping busy and has so many things going on.
Speaker A:It's nice to get the downtime, of course, too, but, you know, there's.
Speaker A:There's always that overhead of what's next.
Speaker A:What's next.
Speaker A:What's.
Speaker A:What's next?
Speaker A:Because you're deciding what's next or is.
Speaker B:What a beautiful freedom.
Speaker A:Yeah, beautiful and terrifying freedom.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:But, yeah, there's like a cyclical nature to it now which kind of revolves around concerts at Point of the Bluff and Lilac.
Speaker B:So I'm coming into.
Speaker B:Once Garlic is done, that will be my slow period, probably up until November.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Gives you a chance to, you know, back and, you know, do some other projects and try that stuff out, too.
Speaker B:Yeah, Yeah.
Speaker B:I have to finish all of those construction projects I've started, and my husband's been asking me for a year when we're going to finish them, which, yeah, I haven't worked on them since last November.
Speaker A:After my breath doesn't taste like garlic anymore, then we can do it.
Speaker A:Oh, boy.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So I'm glad to hear that.
Speaker A:But let's close out again with the plugs for the Garlic Festival and hopefully see everybody out there.
Speaker A:So, August 2nd 3rd at.
Speaker A:What's the location again?
Speaker B:The Geneva lakefront, which if you put into your gps, like the I Love New York welcome Center, you will find it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And that's again running from roughly 10 to 5 or 6 on those days.
Speaker A:10:30 to 5 or 6, and lots of different stuff.
Speaker A:This is an affordable place to go explore, get the taste.
Speaker A:A lot of amazing things, great wine vendors.
Speaker A:Just a fun place to go with the family.
Speaker A:So enjoy the Garlic Festival.
Speaker A:Reagan.
Speaker A:Anything else people need to know about before we close out?
Speaker B:Just.
Speaker B:It's a $5 admission, but 12 and under is free.
Speaker A:Perfect.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:And our VIP tickets are online as well, and you can buy them either for one day or you can do a weekend pass.
Speaker A:Awesome.
Speaker A:Well, thank you so much for coming over again.
Speaker A:And if you want to learn more about the Rochester music scene, you can.
Speaker A:You can check out our music show on the Lunchadore Podcast Network called Nights and Weekends, hosted by Kate Rogers from Bad Bloom.
Speaker A:They're just finished their first season, but excited to see what's coming up next.
Speaker A:And if you missed it, go check it out wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker A:And we'll be back next time with more on the Food About Town podcast.
Speaker A:Thanks for listening to the Food About Town Podcast.
Speaker A:If you aren't already subscribed, what are you waiting for?
Speaker A:Go to your podcast app of choice and make us your favorite podcast by subscribing and leaving a review if you can.
Speaker A:Music for the podcast was created by the fabulous Torres Savant.
Speaker A:You can hear more of his work@taurusavant.bandcamp.com and make your presence known by seeing him perform live.
Speaker A:Food About Town is a proud member of the Lunchadore Podcast Network.
Speaker A:Oh, no, here comes McKenna.
Speaker A:This has been a presentation of the Lunchadore Podcast Network.
Speaker A:Appropriate methods to use for prepping your garlic.
Speaker A:Dice it, mince it, use your knife.
Speaker A:If you use some salt, you can use it as an abrasive and smooth it out with your knife.
Speaker A:You can use a microplane.
Speaker A:You can do lots of things.
Speaker A:You can roast it, you can spread it.
Speaker A:Don't use a garlic press.
Speaker A:Get out of here.
Speaker A:Amateur hour.
