Small City of Pittston, PA Hosts Big Tomato Festival Each Year

Every August, from Thursday through Sunday, Pittston City (a small city in Northeastern Pennsylvania--near Scranton/Wilkes-Barre) hosts the annual Pittston Tomato Festival. The best way to describe this event is a mixture of an Italian food festival, a farmer's market, and a carnival. On average, over 50,000 people attend the four day event!

Downtown Pittston is an old coal-mining town that has seen its better days, but comes alive every August for the annual festival. Why is it called the Tomato Festival? Perhaps it is because for some reason the soil around Pittston is capable of producing massive, juicy tomatoes. In honor of this, visitors can buy fresh tomatoes, or sample Italian food rich with homemade tomato sauce or bruschetta.

The area of the festival itself isn't very large. In fact, on a crowded evening, one will find it hard to walk around through the crowds. Lines are long to sample pasta, ethnic specialties, homemade rice pudding, pizza, Italian ice, and more. Definitely the best part of the tomato festival is the food. This isn't your typical cheap greasy fair food. At the Pittston Tomato festival, one can sample Italian cooking at its best. There is even seafood, Greek food, and a wide variety of homemade desserts.

Besides the food stands, there are a few church fundraising stands, a face-painting stand, a home-made jewelry stand, and several others. There are a couple of games, and several little rides. The children love the bouncing slide, and mini bungee jumping game. In the center of the front of the Tomato Festival is the grandstand, where each evening local talent entertains the pasta-eating masses. To the left of the grandstand is a small "farmer's market" section, which boasts local produce, cider, and, of course, lots of tomatoes.

Extra special events for the weekend include the "Little Mr. and Miss Tomato Contest", where local children compete for the honor of being Little Mr. or Miss Tomato. There is a tomato contest with categories for the biggest, ugliest, smallest, and most perfect. A parade takes place on Saturday, as well as a "rotten tomato fight" which benefits charity. A 5K run is held with prizes awarded to the top three runners. Contestants ages 14-19 may compete on Saturday for the $500 Pittston Festival Queen Scholarship.

The Tomato Festival takes one back to a simpler time of summer festivals, carnivals, and music. It is a tradition that has lasted for years, and will probably continue for many more.