People Do Weird Things

70th annual tomato battle leaves Spanish town red:

More than 20,000 people have pelted each other in the street with tomatoes in this year's "Tomatina" as the Spanish event celebrates its 70th birthday.

At the annual fiesta in the eastern town of Bunol on Wednesday, 175 tons of ripe tomatoes were offloaded from seven trucks into the crowd packing the streets for an hour-long battle.

Since 1945 people have been doing this, and it all started because of a “Giants and Big-Heads” parade.

La Tomatina:

La Tomatina started on the last Wednesday of August in 1945 (29th August 1945) when some young people went to the town square to attend the Giants and Big-Head figures parade. They decided to join the parade with a musician. The group's excitement caused a person to fall from the float. The participant flew into a fit of rage and started to hit everything in his path. There was a market stall of vegetables that fell victim to what soon became a furious crowd. People started to pelt each other with tomatoes until local law enforcement ended the battle.

The following year the young people deliberately repeated the fight on the last Wednesday of August, only this time they brought their own tomatoes from home. They were again dispersed by the police. The food fight became an annual event. In 1950, the town allowed the tomato hurl to take place, but the next year it was stopped again. Many young people were imprisoned but Buñol residents forced authorities to let them go. The festival gained popularity with more and more participants every year. In subsequent years it was banned again with threats of serious penalties. In the year 1957, some young people celebrated "the tomato's funeral", with singers, musicians, and comedies. The main attraction however, was a big tomato in a coffin carried around while a band played funeral marches. In 1957, demand for the popular festival led to its becoming official, with certain rules and restrictions. These rules have gone through many modifications over the years.

A big tomato in a coffin?