STORY: Thousands Hurled Tomatoes at Alameda County Fairgrounds

Nearly 3,000 people converged onto the for one of the largest food fights Pleasanton has ever seen, hosted by Seattle-based company Tomato Battle.

A tomato farm located in Las Banos provided 120,000 inedible and nearly rotten tomatoes for Saturday's event. Piles of red, green and even moldy brown tomatoes sat inside a fenced in arena baking in the warm afternoon sun while eager participants readied themselves with cold, foamy cups of beer.

(Click to see photos of the epic tomato battle.)

With the aroma of rotting tomatoes in the air, Giggle Party, a San Francisco-based band started their own food fight by smashing cupcakes in each others' faces and pouring beer over the tops of their heads.

Thirty bands competed through Tomato Battle's Facebook page hoping to be one of six selected bands worthy enough to entertain the tomato-wielding masses. The bands seedy enough to make the cut included Giggle Party, Finding Jupiter, Eyes Like Mine, Our Vinyle Vows, Sugar Water Purple, and Brooke Was Here.

"We wanted a diverse genre of music so that we could cater to multiple music tastes," share Tomato Battle co-founder Clint Nelson.

One might wonder why anyone would want to swim in piles of smelly tomotoes.

"This has been something on my bucket list," said Jenny Gove.

Grainne Hebeler from Oakland also had tomato tossing on her bucket list.

"This may be the closest I ever get to Spain," Hebeler said referring to Spain's annual La Tomatina festival in Buñol, which claims to host the world's largest tomato fight, attracting tens of thousands tomato-wielding fans.

Pleasanton resident Frank Molnar was more zen about the carnage.

"I've always wondered what they did with the tomatoes at the bottom of the semi-trucks when they drove past me on the highway," he said.

There were multiple strategic plans of attack discussed among the fans as they waited outside the arena blocked by caution tape.

Tomato Battle's youngest participant, 14-year-old Quetin Monroe from Pleasanton, planned to stockpile along side his mom and hurl the smelly fruit as if they were snowballs.

Some tomato fans came from other states and countries to experience what Tomato Battle had to offer.

"Our plan of attack is to dive straight into the pile of tomatoes and take it from there," said Donny and Maria, who spent four weeks driving from Alaska to attend.

Melissa Laurent flew from France to join her friends for the particularly ripe battle.

Prior to the flinging of fruit, co-founder Max Kraner hosted a costume contest in which the winner was determined by audience applause.

Pleasanton resident Laura Molnar won with a dramatic rendition of Stephen King's "Carrie" while her husband Frank Molnar poured tomato juice over her head staining her elegant white evening gown blood red.

Several participants had victims in their line of sight as the crowd neared the Tomato Battle arena.

"We're looking for blood," shared team BA Surgeons, a medical staff from Boston. 

"We think we've got Carrie (Laura Molnar) as our target."

Another contender, dressed as a plate of spaghetti and meatballs with his girlfriend dressed as a chef by his side, appeared more like a moving target than an Italian entree.

"My plan is offense on the front, defense on the back," said Patrick the Spaghetti Plate Man. Meanwhile, Chef Naz intended to hide behind his false porcelain platter.

Ten minutes before the battle of the heirlooms was to begin, Kraner started his "rules of engagement" speech but was drowned out when the eager masses of intoxicated people broke through the caution tape and began the war of tomatoes without waiting for the starting gun.

Ketchup rained from the sky; even the spectators were shown no mercy as they stood outside the war zone. Tomato Battle's creator Kraner and Marketing Director Danielle Campoamor seemed genuinely stunned as their Northern California event erupted prematurely and with a vengeance.

Within minutes, the massive pile of tomatoes was diminished to a chunky salsa with bits of tomato and grass brandishing the warriors within the arena. Victims stumbled out with tomato skins in their ears and dripping with sauce.

As the event came to a close, Tomato Battle's Clint Nelson seemed tremendously pleased with the outcome of the event.

"This is most tomatoes we've had thus far in any of our events," Nelson said. 

"And I think because of the local draw, more people stuck around after the battle than at previous events."

What does the future look like for Tomato Battle? Mud!

Tomato Battle's October calendar includes a mud battle in Miami, Florida.

"Northern California definitely brought it. We'll be back again," said Nelson.

Again, click to see photos of the tomato battle.

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