Get Sauced: Tomato Art Festival Returns For 13th Year

East Nashville's Tomato Art Festival is not the state's only celebration of Solanum lycopersicum.

Grainger County in East Tennessee fetes its famous fruit (or vegetable, for stare decisis types waving copies of Nix v. Hedden) in late July and West Tennessee's Ripley, believe it or not, goes to the hustings for the southern summer staple in early July.

But when the balminess of July gives way to the oppression of August, East Nashville takes over the approbation of the apple of paradise.

And certainly, the glorification of the juicy delight is far more agricultural in those pastoral places, but no one celebrates the tomato, by this time of year in its annual twilight, quite like the folks east of the river.

The traditional agricultural festival celebrates produce and, ultimately, the gustatorial end-result. While the Tomato Art Festival has some of the basic county-fair trappings - contests for tomato size and aesthetics - and, this being Nashville, certainly does not lack for culinary expression - there is a general recipe contest, a tomato-themed meal at Margot, a bloody Mary contest and so on - the TAF twists and stretches the theme, allowing the simple tomato to become muse and, sometimes, medium for artistic expression.

Yes, there is tomato-themed art available for purchase at Art & Invention Gallery, owned by festival founders Meg and Bret MacFadyen and there is a tomato haiku contest and the crowning of various kings, queens, princesses, fairies and elves. The redhead contest shines a light on the much-maligned, genetically-threatened ginger-haired among us.

And hobbyists in their oft-bizarre tomato-inspired costumes fill the streets between Forrest and Russell and 10th and 12th, orbiting Five Points like aphids to the vine.

There is music both Friday and Saturday, of course. And there is a 5K Saturday morning, of course. And there is beer, of course. And there are food trucks and vendors of various sort, not all necessarily offering tomato-inspired objets d'art, but, like everyone else, drawn across the river by love of that simple fruit and/or vegetable.

For event schedule and information, visit the TAF web site.