Olde Mistick Village Garlic Festival
Olde Mistick Village Garlic Festival returns to Mystic on September 19 and 20 for its 19th year, filling the Village with fresh garlic, specialty foods, regional farms, artisans, and live music during one of its longest-running fall traditions.
The two-day festival runs Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free.
More than 50 vendors and 16 local bands and performers are expected for the 2026 festival, transforming the walkways and greens of Olde Mistick Village into a sprawling celebration of the fall harvest.
And, as the name suggests, there will be a lot of garlic.
Garlic Is the Reason for the Weekend
The Garlic Festival was created around something that can get lost amid the food stands and live music: the agricultural cycle of garlic itself.
Garlic is generally planted in Connecticut during the fall. It spends the winter underground, resumes growing in spring and is harvested during the summer. After harvest, growers cure the bulbs so they can be stored and sold well beyond the growing season.
By September, local growers are arriving at the festival with garlic from that year’s harvest.
Visitors can encounter different varieties of the bulb rather than the relatively limited selection usually found at a supermarket, while farmers traditionally bring other parts of the season’s harvest as well.
Past Garlic Festivals have included fresh vegetables and herbs alongside honey, jams, preserves, syrups, sauces and other locally produced foods.
For anyone who wants to take some of the festival home, the farmers’ stands are as important as the prepared food.
A Festival That Started With Farmers
The event’s roots stretch beyond its 19 years at Olde Mistick Village.
The Garlic Festival originated as a farmers market-style celebration at Adam’s Garden of Eden in Pawcatuck, where the emphasis was on the fall harvest and locally grown garlic.
It eventually moved to Olde Mistick Village and grew considerably.
By 2020, the festival was ordinarily attracting between 50 and 70 vendors and approximately 20,000 visitors, according to reporting at the time. What began with farmers and garlic had expanded to include food, entertainment, artists, craftspeople and live music.
Even as the festival has grown, farmers remain part of its foundation.
That makes the weekend something of a hybrid: part harvest festival, part food festival, part artisan market and part outdoor music festival.
Come Hungry, and Don’t Expect Garlic to Stay in Its Lane
Over the years, vendors have demonstrated that there are very few foods into which someone won’t attempt to introduce garlic.
Past festivals have offered everything from garlic fries and garlic fried dough to garlic fudge and garlic Italian ice.
Those particular foods shouldn’t be considered a confirmed 2026 menu until this year’s individual vendors announce what they’re serving, but they illustrate how far the festival has historically taken its central ingredient.
Prepared-food vendors and Village restaurants participate alongside the growers, and non-garlic choices are traditionally available for anyone who reaches their personal limit.
Bakers and specialty-food producers add another layer to the weekend, while the Village’s permanent restaurants and food businesses remain open around the festival.
The result is less a single food court than a trail of things to eat spread throughout the property.
More Than 50 Vendors Fill the Village
Garlic may provide the theme, but the festival has grown well beyond food.
The 2026 event is expected to bring more than 50 vendors to Olde Mistick Village, including farmers, bakers, crafters, artisans and artists.
Their booths are incorporated into the Village itself, lining paths between the shops, restaurants, duck pond and greens rather than occupying a separate fairground.
That layout is particularly suited to an event built around browsing.
Olde Mistick Village was designed as a walkable interpretation of an early New England village, with individual buildings arranged around pedestrian paths and landscaped common areas. It opened in 1973 and today contains more than 40 shops and boutiques along with restaurants and other businesses.
During Garlic Festival weekend, the visiting farmers and makers effectively add another temporary layer to the Village.
Sixteen Local Bands and Performers Bring Music to the Weekend
Food isn’t the only reason to linger.
The 2026 Garlic Festival is expected to feature 16 local bands and performers across the two days.
The complete performance schedule has not yet been released by Olde Mistick Village, but at least some of this year’s musicians have begun announcing their appearances independently.
The Rich Badowski Band is scheduled to perform Sunday, September 20, from noon to 3 p.m.
Badowski is a familiar presence on the southeastern Connecticut music circuit, performing blues and roots-oriented music at festivals, restaurants, breweries and other venues around the region.
Another Sunday performance has been announced by Liz Reed, who is scheduled to appear as a duo with Dave at 3 p.m.
Additional performers and individual set times are expected as the festival approaches.
Live music has become a substantial part of the Garlic Festival rather than background entertainment. Previous editions have placed performers at multiple locations around Olde Mistick Village, allowing visitors to encounter different music as they move around the grounds.
From Garlic Market to Major Fall Festival
Nineteen editions have given the Garlic Festival time to develop its own identity among Mystic’s increasingly crowded calendar of fall events.
Its original agricultural purpose is still visible in the farmers selling freshly harvested garlic and produce, but the festival now reaches considerably further.
Artists sell original work. Crafters and makers set up along the pathways. Bakers and specialty-food businesses bring products that can be taken home. Prepared-food vendors turn garlic into lunch, dinner and occasionally something that probably wasn’t meant to contain garlic in the first place.
Meanwhile, musicians perform throughout the Village.
The combination has previously earned the festival recognition from the American Bus Association, which selected it for its list of top events in North America.
It has also become one of Olde Mistick Village’s signature annual events, returning each September as summer gives way to the fall festival season.
Two Days to Explore Olde Mistick Village
Saturday offers the longer festival day, running from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m.
The festival returns Sunday at 11 a.m. and continues until 6 p.m.
Because vendors and entertainment are distributed around the Village, visitors can move between festival booths and Olde Mistick Village’s permanent shops and restaurants throughout the day.
There is no admission gate separating the festival from the rest of the property.
Visitors can arrive for garlic and leave with local honey, baked goods, artwork or something they never intended to buy. They can stop for a band, wander through the shops and return to the festival paths.
Or they can simply follow the smell.
Event Details
Event: 19th Annual Garlic Festival
Dates: Saturday and Sunday, September 19–20, 2026
Saturday Hours: 11 a.m.–7 p.m.
Sunday Hours: 11 a.m.–6 p.m.
Location: Olde Mistick Village
Address: 27 Coogan Boulevard, Mystic, CT 06355
Admission: Free
Vendors: More than 50 expected
Entertainment: 16 local bands and performers expected
Featuring: Local garlic and produce, farms, food vendors, bakers, specialty foods, crafters, artisans, artists, live music and family activities
Confirmed Sunday Music: Rich Badowski Band, noon–3 p.m.; Liz Reed with Dave, 3 p.m.
More information is available at the Event Website link below.
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