By Ben Antonius | Daily Republic | August 13, 2009
Aiya Karaouni, 6, chews down her tomatoes during the first of three tomato-eating contests at last year's Tomato Festival in downtown Fairfield.
FAIRFIELD - It is almost Tomato Festival season again.
The city's annual fruity festival -- or is it a vegetable? -- will return Saturday and Sunday in downtown Fairfield.
Tenbrink Farms in Suisun Valley will provide more than 200 varieties of heirloom tomatoes for the festival, which will also include the sixth annual West Coast Barbeque Championships, sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society. As many as 100 barbecue teams from all over the western United States will compete in five categories.
'In the past we have been told that we have had between (40,000) and 50,000 on the weekend and I see no reason not to expect that again,' said Laura Cole-Rowe, interim executive director for the Fairfield Downtown Association.
Beginning at 2 p.m. today, Texas Street will be closed from Great Jones Street to Union Streets. The cross streets will also be closed within a half-block of Texas Street.
The festival will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
For the upcoming festival, the layout has been flipped. The barbecue competition will be held on the western side of downtown, with the judging taking place in the courtyard of the Fairfield Center for Creative Arts.
See the complete story at the Daily Republic online.
