Ontario’s most pungent party took place over the weekend, drawing an estimated over 7,000 visitors to the former Fairgrounds site for the sixth annual Stratford Garlic Festival.

Nearly 100 vendors were on hand in the market selling a variety of garlics and garlic-themed items Saturday and Sunday, complementing the cooking demonstrations and live entertainment happening under the tents.

The highlight of this year’s festival was the new “Black Box cook-off” on Sunday morning. The event featured Mayor Dan Mathieson and Kevin Tuer, of the Canadian Digital Media Network, who were each paired with a student from the Stratford Chefs School.

Following that event there was a garlic chef competition, which pitted Aaron Linley of Bijou against Yva Santini of Pazzo.

The two-day festival, which has grown considerably since its beginning as a one-day event in 2007 that attracted about 2,000 people, is a community project of the Kiwanis Club of Stratford.