Mario Lopez to crown National Garlic Queen — and give cooking demo at Fresno festival

There’s a lot promised for the National Garlic Festival — which kicks of Friday at the Fresno Fairgrounds.

Like, more than 300 garlic-inspired foods. That includes garlic fries (obviously), but also ice cream and just straight-up cloves of the stuff. There’s also a pun-intended Vampire Run, two nights of firework displays and the crowning of the National Garlic Festival Queen.

The queen will be crowned Saturday afternoon by actor and celebrity television host Mario Lopez.

The “Saved by the Bell” actor and “Access Hollywood” host is also a restaurateur. He opened Tortas Lopez, a delivery only virtual dining spot last year. Lopez will do a live cooking demonstration on Saturday, along with a VIP meet-and-greet.

Lopez will be joined by fellow celebrity chefs Martin Yan (of “Yan Can Cook” fame) and Rocco Dispirito. Yan will be doing cooking demos all three days; Dispirito will do two demonstrations Sunday.

Car show, music and a carnival midway

Also slated for the festival is the Clovis Classic Car Show, a carnival midway with rides and games for the kids and live music from more than two dozen local performers across a range of genres (blues and rockabilly, rock and ska). A full lineup can be seen on the event’s Facebook page.

Will it replace Gilroy Garlic Festival?

For the fans of garlic (and we’ve all met a few), Fresno’s garlic festival could be a welcomed event, coming less than a month after Gilroy Garlic Fest announced it was shutting down for the “foreseeable future.”

This is actually the second year for the National Garlic Festival in Fresno. The first happened in 2019, with organizers are choosing the national title because Fresno County is “the real garlic capital of the United States.”

About 80% of all garlic in the United States was grown in the county, organizers said.