PITTSTON — The 36th Pittston Tomato Festival will be held in downtown Pittston August Thursday, Aug. 15 through Sunday, Aug. 18.
Over 50,000 people will attend the award-winning four-day event that has been touted as one of the best festivals in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Delicious food, a variety of live entertainment, tomato fights, a parade, 5K run and walk, games, artists and, of course, home-grown Pittston tomatoes keep bringing an enthusiastic crowd to the festival year after year.
New this year is a fabulous art walk on the third tier behind the Pittston Memorial Library from 5 to 9 p.m. each day of the festival.
The festival’s opening ceremony will be held Thursday, Aug. 15 at 6 p.m. followed by live entertainment,. Live entertainment begins at 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 16. Saturday’s events begin at 10 a.m. with the Pittston Tomato Festival 5K Run and Fun Walk. Registration begins at 8 a.m. at the Greater Pittston YMCA.
The parade will begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The route will start at the A-Plus Mini Mart and continue through Main Street and down Kennedy Boulevard and end at the Waterfront Warehouse (formerly Cooper’s)
The Tomato Fights will be held at 1:30 p.m. at the Waterfront Warehouse parking lot, 304 Kennedy Blvd. Registration will be held at 11:30 a.m. at the Waterfront Warehouse before the fights begin. Participants must be 12 years of age or older. Entry fee is $10. Tomato Fights t-shirts will be available for a $10 donation with all proceeds benefiting Greater Pittston charities.
A Tomato Contest will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Tomato Festival Committee stand on the festival grounds. Bring your largest, smallest, ugliest, and most perfect tomato to the stand by 6 p.m. for judging.
On Sunday, the Little Miss & Little Mr. Tomato Contest begins at 10:45 a.m. followed by live entertainment until the festival closes at 9 p.m.
The Pittston Tomato Festival has been featured in Parade Magazine, The Washington Post, and Pennsylvania Magazine and was preserved as part of the Library of Congress Local Legacies Project in Washington D.C.
For more information, call 570-655-1424 or visit the website at www.pittstontomatofestival.com
