What's Happening in Cincinnati, OH…

Visitors to the street fair in the Incline District on Saturday celebrated the end of the event by pelting each other with soft fruit.

The tomato fight, known as La Tomatina, was the first of its kind and the brainchild of one Frank Wood, who was recently appointed Cincinnati's “commissioner of fun”. This voluntary position is focused on developing enjoyable events for the city and its residents.

In this instance, the fun required 4,000 tomatoes, which hundreds of people threw at one another. La Tomatina took place at Dempsey Field, which is adjacent to the Price Hill Rec Center, at around 4:00 pm. Participants, who were asked to donate canned food items to a local food pantry in order to take part, wore protective eye goggles.

Wood said it took him and other event organizers five hours to peel the tomatoes, and only ten minutes for people to throw them. The tomatoes had to be skinned before they could be thrown to avoid injury. He said people were having great fun and enjoying themselves.

Among those who got splattered with tomatoes were Councilwoman Amy Murray and Harry Black, the Cincinnati City Manager. Mayor of Cincinnati John Cranley was also a participant.

Wood and other officials might like to work with a flyer printing company to create a mailer describing this event, and asking residents to save the date for next year.