Tomato Festival

This passage describes an unusual tomato festival that takes place in a small town in Spain.

Lexile Level: 880L

Categories: People & Places Adventure

Each year on the last Wednesday in August, thousands of people from all over the world gather in a small town in Spain for the Tomato Festival. The festival began in the 1940s, when someone grabbed some tomatoes from a vegetable stand and began throwing them. For the next few years, young people had a friendly food fight on the same day. Eventually, the town created an official Tomato Festival. On the night before the festival, the town hosts a big party. People gather in the streets and eat, drink, and dance. The next day, the town's main street fills with people. Village residents climb on rooftops and pour water on the crowd. Around noon, a big truck full of tomatoes rolls into town. People on the back of the trucks toss tomatoes into the crowd, and everyone begins throwing them at each other. After about an hour, the town is a sticky red mess!