Perth Tomato festival canned due to... lack of tomatoes March 2 2016
An Australian events company has been awkwardly forced to cancel its Perth tomato-throwing festival after admitting it didn't have enough tomatoes to run the event.
The Tomato Battle, run by Ausome Productions, was scheduled to take place at Gloucester Park on Saturday and was promoted to feature more than "300,000 tomatoes destined to be hurled at willing participants".
Perth's Tomato Battle festival has been cancelled due to an apparent tomato shortage. Photo: Facebook / Tomato Battle The event was inspired by Spain's famous La Tomatina festival, where thousands of locals and tourists descend on Bunol to throw the fruit at each other.
Organisers announced the Perth event had been cancelled on Monday, claiming WA's recent heatwave had led to "demolished crops leaving no useable tomatoes".
Bizarrely, it's not the first time a Tomato Battle event has been called off, with promoters also using the 'not enough tomatoes' reason for a festival cancelled in Brisbane in January.
It's Adelaide event, due to take place on February 27, was also cancelled seven days prior, but due to low ticket sales.
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The string of last-minute cancellations has led organisers to come under fire by angry would-be tomato throwers who questioned the legitimacy of the events on Tomato Battle's Facebook page.
"Brisbane event isn't listed here but yet we have tickets for it. It scheduled to be held at Doomben next Sunday yet there are races scheduled at the same venue. Starting to wonder if this is legit?" wrote one commentator on January 15.
"Can you please advise how we can get our money back? I sent you an email on the 23rd Jan but have not had a reply," posted another on February 2.
Ausome Productions spokesman Rob Capogna added more confusion to the mix on Tuesday when he told WAtoday future events in Melbourne and Sydney were never on the cards, despite its Facebook page claiming they were.
He said people who purchased tickets to the three recently-cancelled events had been told they would receive a refund up to 45 days after being notified of the cancellation.
Despite concerns from ticket purchasers, Queensland and South Australia's consumer watchdogs had not received any complaints about the shelved festivals.
Mr Capogna said the company was disappointed to have cancelled its Perth event but assured ticket holders refunds would be given.
"As the event is based around a fruit it makes the operations contingent on the supply of the tomatoes," he said.
"With the incredibly high heat in WA the past few weeks it demolished the crops leaving no usable tomatoes... and as per our social responsibility policy we don't use edible fruit for the event.
"It's a shame this happens but there is no fighting Mother Nature."
He said refunds would take time as the company had to go through "various processors".
"This expectation is explained in the email we send out to our customers, and as we understand their pain, we seek to get those out as quickly as possible," Mr Capogna said.
"From my understanding a number of refunds have been initiated and will continue to be processed."
WA's Consumer Protection has been contacted for comment
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