Food fight! Tomatoes thrown for charity

RENO, Nev., Aug. 30 (UPI) -- An estimated 2,500 people pelted each other with ammunition from a pile of 150,000 ripe tomatoes in a food fight for charity, observers in Reno, Nev., said.

The second annual La Tomatina en Reno began at 3 p.m. Sunday, lasting about 30 minutes and sparing no one in the City Plaza area, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported.

"There was just a huge pile of tomatoes, and we just dove right into the center," said Victoria Sanderson, 18, a student at the University of Nevada, Reno.

The event was fashioned after the larger festival in Bunol, Spain, and was sponsored by the Club Cal Neva.

The festival frenzy drew thousands of people raising an estimated $20,000 for the American Cancer Society.

The sticky, smelly mess was everywhere, the Gazette-Journal said.

"It was chaos," said Carissa Collins, 27 and a bartender at Dopplegangers in Carson City. "Some of those tomatoes were not very ripe. I'll be bruised a bit tomorrow, but I'll be OK."

The participants, who each paid $10 and signed a waiver, wore a variety of costumes and protection.

"With one of them, I just pulled down his shield and just started pelting him with tomatoes," Alex Zorn said. "Then one of their helmets came off and I grabbed it as a trophy."