To the organisers of the Bengaluru Tomatina Festival, Bengaluru Police, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, Palace Grounds authorities and the Government of Karnataka:

Food that could enter kitchens and stomachs is instead being deliberately turned into waste.

We, the undersigned citizens of Bengaluru and India, respectfully call upon the authorities to stop the proposed Tomato War at the Tomatina Festival scheduled for Sunday, September 6, 2026, at Pebble – The Jungle Lounge, Palace Grounds, Bellary Road, Bengaluru.

We are not against music.

We are not against young people having fun.

We are not against festivals.

We are asking a simple question:

Why should edible food be deliberately destroyed for entertainment?
The proposed event advertises a tomato war, where tomatoes will be thrown at people as part of the entertainment.

A tomato is food.

It is not a ball.
It is not a colour.
It is not a toy.

It is a nutritious vegetable containing vitamin C, vitamin A, fibre and other nutrients. One medium tomato of about 123 grams provides approximately 19 mg of vitamin C.

And this is not merely about the nutritional value of one tomato.

It is about the message we send when kilograms — potentially tonnes — of edible food are purchased specifically to be smashed, thrown, trampled and discarded.

🍅 HOW MUCH FOOD COULD BE WASTED?
The organisers have not publicly stated, to our knowledge, the exact quantity of tomatoes that will be used.

So we ask them to disclose it.

How many kilograms of tomatoes will be purchased for the tomato war?

Even if the quantity were only:

1 tonne = 1,000 kg

that represents approximately 20,000 portions of 50 grams of vegetables — the vegetable quantity specified in India's PM POSHAN nutrition norms for a primary-school child.

At:

2 tonnes = 40,000 such vegetable portions.

At:

5 tonnes = 100,000 such portions.

The Government of India's own nutrition guidance recognises vegetables as important sources of vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and dietary fibre, and notes the role of vitamin-C-rich vegetables in improving absorption of iron from plant foods. India's PM POSHAN programme exists specifically to improve the nutritional status of children, with prescribed quantities of food and nutritional requirements.

So why should we purchase food to throw it at one another?

THIS HAS HAPPENED BEFORE IN BENGALURU
This is not the first time Bengaluru has confronted this question.

In 2012, a proposed Tomatina event at Palace Grounds faced strong public opposition. Contemporary reports stated that thousands of participants were expected and raised concerns about tens of thousands of kilograms of tomatoes being wasted. The proposed events were subsequently denied permission.

We should not have to rediscover the same wisdom fourteen years later.

WE ARE NOT ASKING FOR FUN TO STOP.
We are asking for the celebration to change.
If the organisers want to create Bengaluru's first great Tomatina-inspired celebration, let Bengaluru show the world how to do it better.

Instead of:

TOMATOES → THROW → SMASH → WASTE

let us create:

TOMATOES → SHARE → NOURISH → CELEBRATE

Imagine this instead:
🍅 Buy tomatoes from local farmers.

🍅 Give participants baskets of tomatoes to take home.

🍅 Partner with schools, community kitchens and credible NGOs to distribute edible tomatoes.

🍅 Create a “Tomato for a Child” contribution campaign. Enhance it to "Tomato Plant for  a Child program.

🍅 Turn the tomato into chutney, sauce, soup or other food products wherever food-safety requirements permit.

🍅 Have a Tomato Harvest & Sharing Festival rather than a Tomato War.

🍅 Keep the DJs.

🍅 Keep the music.

🍅 Keep the dancing.

🍅 Keep the colours and games, where safe and responsible.

🍅 Keep the celebration.

Just don't throw the food.
Let every participant leave carrying something that can nourish somebody.

Let every ticket sold create a little kindness.

Let Bengaluru create a festival where fun and compassion are not opposites.

OUR REQUEST
We respectfully request the authorities to:

Withhold/review permission for the proposed tomato-throwing activity at the September 6, 2026 event.
Require the organisers to disclose the quantity, source and intended disposal method of tomatoes proposed to be used.
Prevent edible food from being deliberately destroyed as entertainment.
Encourage the organisers to redesign the event as a food-sharing, charity and community celebration.
If the organisers wish to retain the Tomatina theme, encourage a “Tomato for Good” model in which tomatoes are purchased from farmers and distributed rather than destroyed.
LET THIS BE A POSITIVE MOVEMENT.
This petition is not against the organisers personally.

It is not against the young people who want to attend.

It is not against Spain or Spanish culture.

It is not about politics.

It is about asking ourselves what kind of society we want to be.

A society where food becomes a weapon of entertainment?

Or a society where food becomes an instrument of kindness?

Bengaluru can choose better.
If thousands of people are willing to come together to celebrate tomatoes, surely thousands of us can come together to share tomatoes.

If we can spend money buying food to throw at strangers, we can spend that same money putting food on someone's plate.

🍅 DON'T THROW FOOD.
🍅 SHARE IT.
🍅 DON'T WASTE IT.
🍅 TURN IT INTO KINDNESS.
We request the authorities to stop the proposed Tomato War and ask the organisers to transform the event into a celebration that Bengaluru can be proud of.

SIGN THIS PETITION.
25,000 signatures for a simple message:

FOOD IS FOR PEOPLE — NOT FOR THROWING.