Tomato Competitions

Tomato competitions are events where enthusiasts, gardeners, and farmers come together to showcase their best tomatoes. These competitions celebrate the diversity, flavor, size, and beauty of tomatoes, offering a fun and community-centered way to appreciate this beloved fruit. Here are some popular types of tomato competitions:

1. Biggest Tomato Competitions

• These contests focus on finding the largest, heaviest tomato. Gardeners often spend months (or even years) cultivating special varieties that can grow to massive sizes.

• Example Events:

  • Biggest Tomato Contest at the Harrogate Autumn Flower Show (UK): Known for its massive vegetable competitions, including tomatoes, where growers try to beat records with their giant fruits.

  • WPC Big Tomato Contest (USA): Hosted by the Worldwide Produce Company, this event celebrates the heaviest tomatoes with gardeners competing to see who can grow the biggest beast.

2. Best-Tasting Tomato Competitions

• Flavour is the star of these competitions. Judges taste various tomatoes and look for sweetness, acidity, juiciness, and overall flavour balance.

• Example Events:

  • Heirloom Tomato Festival (California, USA): An event that features heirloom tomato tastings, where growers bring their best-tasting varieties, and attendees vote on their favorites.

  • TomatoFest (Oregon, USA): Annual tomato tasting events where local farmers compete for the title of best-tasting tomato. Categories may include cherry tomatoes, heirloom varieties, and hybrids.

3. Prettiest Tomato Competitions

• In these contests, it’s all about appearance. Growers present their most beautiful, perfectly shaped, and colorful tomatoes. Judges look for smooth skin, uniform shape, and vibrant colors.

• Example Events:

  • Royal Horticultural Society Competitions (UK): Local and national shows often have categories for the most visually appealing vegetables, including tomatoes. Gardeners showcase their best-looking varieties.

4. Heirloom Tomato Competitions

• These competitions highlight heirloom tomatoes, which are varieties passed down through generations, known for their unique shapes, colors, and flavors. Growers showcase rare and unusual varieties, and judges appreciate diversity and taste.

• Example Events:

  • Kendall-Jackson Heirloom Tomato Festival (California, USA): Celebrates heirloom tomatoes with a competition that includes tastings, cooking demonstrations, and awards for the best heirloom varieties.

  • TomatoMania (California, USA): The largest tomato seedling sale in the U.S. often includes tastings and awards for heirloom varieties.

5. Tomato Grow-Offs

• These are more casual competitions where gardeners or communities have a "grow-off" to see who can grow the best tomato over a season. Sometimes these are friendly neighborhood competitions, while others might be organized by gardening clubs or local festivals.

• Example Events:

  • Local Garden Club Contests: Many gardening clubs host annual competitions, inviting members to grow and bring in their best tomatoes. Categories may include largest, tastiest, and most unique varieties.

  • Community Festivals: Some local fairs and festivals have informal tomato grow-offs where anyone can enter their best tomato, leading to friendly rivalry and local bragging rights.

6. Tomato Festival Competitions

• Many festivals dedicated to tomatoes will have multiple competitions, from biggest to best-tasting to weirdest-looking. It’s a celebration of all things tomato, with tastings, cooking competitions, and more.

• Example Events:

  • La Tomatina (Spain): While not a traditional competition, this famous tomato-throwing festival celebrates tomatoes in a fun, chaotic way. Participants throw ripe tomatoes at each other, making it one of the world's most famous tomato-related events.

  • Bradley County Pink Tomato Festival (Arkansas, USA): One of the oldest tomato festivals in the U.S., it features tomato eating contests, tastings, and awards for best-grown tomatoes.

7. Creative Tomato Competitions

• Some events get creative, with competitions for the best tomato-based dish or most unique tomato variety. Others might even have contests for the funniest or weirdest-shaped tomatoes.

• Example Events:

  • Tomato Art Fest (Nashville, Tennessee, USA): This quirky festival has everything from tomato beauty pageants to cooking contests, art shows, and even a parade. It’s a fun celebration of tomato culture, with competitions for unique tomato art and recipes.

  • Weirdest Tomato Contest: Some local farmers’ markets and community events host competitions to find the most oddly shaped or unique-looking tomatoes. It’s all about celebrating the unexpected!

Conclusion

Tomato competitions are a vibrant part of agricultural and gardening culture, showcasing the skill and passion of growers. Whether it's aiming for the biggest tomato, the tastiest heirloom, or even the oddest shape, these events bring together communities to share, compete, and celebrate all things tomato. So, next time you grow a prize-worthy tomato, consider entering it into a local competition—you might just walk away with a trophy (or at least some fun memories)!