PITTSTON-- Folks from all over came to a festival in Luzerne County.
150 people were tossing tomatoes at the 31st annual Pittston Tomato Festival.
This year's tomato fight was held in the parking lot of Cooper's Restaurant in downtown Pittston .
Participants came armed and ready, some even wearing goggles.
"The fun of throwing tomatoes at everybody in town! I mean where else do you get to do this but in Pittston, Pennsylvania," said Chris Hulse of Swoyersville.
The tomato festival borrows the messy tradition from Bunol, Spain. The town started the food fight in 1944.
Many people attending the festival are first timers, including Hulse.
"This is actually my first one. I've lived in town about five years, but I've always wanted to do this so, this year was it!"
"We've heard about it for years and my family has wanted us to do it for years. So this is the first year we actualyl said we would do it," said Heather Gardner of Michigan, another first timer.
First timer Vaugh Golding of Reading said, "we've always been seeing it for a couple of years so we finally decided to just come on down and do it."
A few tossers suggested adding more tomatoes and making the tomato fight longer, but participants say they'll be coming back next year, and this time, they'll have a better throwing arm.
All the proceeds from the fundraiser benefit charities in the Greater Pittston area.
