VIENNA — On Aug. 22 the Great Eastern Shore Tomato Festival will return to Vienna for another fun filled day of family fun. Some of the highlights for the day will be all of the fun and silly events that attendees can take part in, for free. There is a rain date scheduled for Aug. 23.

From watermelon eating contests and peach pit spitting contests to the Great Tomato Wars, everyone in the family can compete and have a blast. There is no cost to participate in most of these offerings.

Several new activities for the year are being highly anticipated and offer another way to get in on the fun. The first is an extension of an already favorite challenge- The Great Tomato Wars. In preparing the tomatoes for battle, it is necessary to make sure that they are not too firm, lest they harm the participants unduly. In order to accomplish this and have fun at the same time, the kids that are too young to participate in the wars are needed for tomato stomping!! This activity will count as Tomato Warrior Training and is guaranteed to stain the bare feet of those that stomp!

In addition, our friends at Punkin’ Chunkin’ will join us for the first time, with pint sized versions of their trebuchets, suitable for youngsters to operate. Of course, tomatoes will be tossed, not pumpkins. The public is encouraged to come out and support this event, so that we may show the Punkin’ Chunkin’ people just how wonderful and abundant the region’s festival goers really are.

Of course, it’s never too early to sign up to sponsor and man, or simply sponsor a Tomato Wars team. The cost is $100/team and the participants receive a festival t-shirt, simply for competing. While you may still sign up on the day of the event, earlier is better in terms of promotional materials and hype!

For information or to sign up, please call 410-228-7953, e-mail dchs@verizon.net or visit www.dorchesterhistory.org. Please note that no edible tomatoes will be harmed in the activities of the day.

The Great Eastern Shore Tomato Festival supports the operations of the Dorchester County Historical Society.