10 Juicy Photos from Colombia's Tomato-Throwing Festival

By Jordi Lippe and Jordi Lippe-McGraw
June 06, 2016
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What do you do with one perfectly good tomato? Maybe eat it. What do you do with millions of them? You hurl them at complete strangers. At least you do if you're at the annual Tomatina Festival in Colombia.

While a more famous tomato-throwing event takes place each year near Valencia, Spain, the Colombian festival is to honor the area's surplus tomato production, some of the highest in Latin America. About 20,000 people showed up over the weekend to the town of Sutamarchán, near Bogotá, to participate in the 10th edition of the massive food fight.

The three-day long celebration focuses on all things tomato, including eating contests and a race to find the largest tomato. Of course the main event comes when locals and tourists alike throw overripe tomatoes at each other in a sloppy extravaganza.

It’s this red mess that makes for some pretty incredible photos. Check out these amazing shots of Colombians sloshing around in their massive tomato battle zone.

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Heaping piles of tomatoes

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Preparations include gathering incredible masses of tomatoes for people to throw at each other.

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Picking up ammo

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One young boy grabs a tomato to prepare for battle.

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A sea of red

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Things got a bit messy.

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