In a crowded pavilion on the outskirts of Gilroy, two cooks threw calamari into massive pans full of searing oil. An instant later, 6-foot-tall flames burst upward in blazing pillars, followed by an intoxicating waft of garlic, lemon and herbs that permeated the air over a crowd of awed onlookers.

While the familiar sights and smells delighted fans of the Gilroy Garlic Festival, this weekend’s spectacle and celebration of all things garlic represented so much more. Six years after tragedy struck and abruptly ended the storied tradition, the festival is back — albeit smaller and in a different setting. And despite some early hiccups, attendees on Friday were thrilled to see it return and eager for it to succeed and grow.

“I’m just happy for the community, they needed it so bad. We needed something to look forward to and something to bring the community together,” said Miranda Janisch, 25, who has attended since she was 5. “It’s so cool to see all the smiling faces again. The love of garlic is back.”

What began as a humble luncheon in 1978 became a phenomenon with an annual attendance of about 100,000. It attracted curious foodies, famous chefs and garlic fanatics from around the world — all while giving away hundreds of thousands of dollars every year, offering a lifeline to more than a hundred charities and nonprofit organizations throughout the city and providing around a third of the funding for the Chamber of Commerce.

Then in 2019, a gunman opened fire on the festival’s last day, wounding 17 people and killing three: 6-year-old Stephen Romero of San Jose, 13-year-old Keyla Salazar of San Jose and 25-year-old Santa Cruz resident Trevor Irby. In the aftermath, the community lost its most cherished annual affair and both COVID-19 and rising insurance rates made bringing the festival back a long shot.

But after years of small events and deferred dreams, the Garlic Festival — which began Friday and runs through Sunday — is back to something like its former self.

The Garlic Festival moved from Christmas Hill Park to Gilroy Gardens’ South County Grove and with the new space came limitations on attendance, with a daily cap of 3,000 tickets per day — which sold out in hours and attracted buyers from Sacramento, Truckee and Santa Clarita, as well as locals who recalled waiting, anxiously refreshing the webpage to buy tickets.

“I’ve lived here my whole life. This is ‘our’ thing,” said Charlie Trujillo, a Gilroy native who has attended every Garlic Festival since its inception and called the organizers after it was canceled to see when it would return. “I was waiting for it, I was begging for it. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

Friday saw a cool, cloudy morning roll into a mild, sunny day — in stark contrast to the usual heat of the typical Garlic Festival weekend.

Michele Torres, a Gilroyan who proudly sported handmade garlic earrings, called the return, “Wonderful: It’s like being back home … it’s community and the venue is incredible.”

Several other visitors also remarked on the new space, which offered shady trees, grassy fields and a covered pavilion, allowing for a cooler locale that was less dusty than the former home of the festival, Christmas Hill Park.

Despite its differences, the new festival featured many of the most famed aspects of the celebration: cooking demonstrations by “pyro chefs” producing pillars of fire, live musicians who played rollicking rendition of country favorites, and vendors selling their wares from rugs to toe-rings.

“I’m really, really impressed. It’s smaller, but it feels like the Garlic Festival,” former Mayor Marie Blankley said. “I love it and hope they have enough success to do it again.”

Gourmet Alley — with its lineup of shrimp scampi, pepper steak sandwiches, garlic bread, and garlic fries — was the main attraction,and the mouthwatering mix of savory meats, garlic and herbs filled much of the venue.

“The food is absolutely fabulous. It was so succulent,” said Sue Moyer, a Santa Cruz resident and long-time festival attendee, after feasting on the shrimp scampi. “After six years of not having the Garlic Festival, it’s a total blessing. It’s almost like Christmas.”

Free samples of garlic ice cream drew more adventurous crowds, and while the bizarre mix of sharp allium and cool creaminess was not to everyone’s taste, others were delighted with the treat.

Even so, many voiced concerns over long lines for food, which snaked around the pavilion housing Gourmet Alley throughout the late morning and early afternoon.

“This is an obscene line for Gourmet Alley, but it’ll be worth it,” said Gilroy native Emily Menacho, staring down the scores of expectant foodies standing between her and the order windows.

For some, even the long lines became a source of community with visitors making the best of the situation by helping call out numbers, translating orders into Spanish and clapping and cheering as fellow patrons grabbed their food at long last.

“Some people waited an hour, but they’re good-natured about it,” said Laura Stocks, a festival fan born and raised in Gilroy. “I think people understand that it’s just coming back.”

Paul Nadeau, president of the Garlic Festival Association, acknowledged the hiccups in the first hours of the first day back, but promised, “If there’s one thing I know, it’s that we will take care of our community. We won’t have this problem tomorrow … we’ve seen the demand,” noting that there was a shortage of volunteers and a spike in demand that came “an hour and a half earlier than expected.”

Despite the issues, he said he was thrilled to be part of the comeback. “It’s a nonstop euphoria right now,” he said. “It’s a beautiful venue: we hope we can sustain it and grow in this space for some time.”

That hope for a larger festival was echoed across visitors and city officials alike.

“If you weren’t able to make it out here, I envision future festivals will include growth. We will take it year by year with the idea that this will begin to grow again,” Gilroy Mayor Greg Bozzo said. “It’s been a rough six years, we’re so excited to be back here. It’s going to be a great, great weekend.”