COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of Missouri invites tomato lovers and gardeners to its 2024 Tomato Festival. The free event is 4-7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 5, at the MU Jefferson Farm Extension and Education Center, 4800 New Haven Road, Columbia.

“This event is not only fun and tasty, but it also helps us know what varieties of tomatoes and peppers the public like best,” said Tim Reinbott, communications director for the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station. “We share these results each year with local growers so they can choose what varieties of tomatoes they want to try in their garden.”

This year, the free event will feature:

• Tasting and rating of more than 100 varieties of tomatoes and peppers.
• Tasting of salsa, tomato jam and tomato products, including salsa samples by retired horticulturist Steven Kirk and local restaurants.
• MU Extension’s David Trinklein on tomato diseases.
• Cooking demonstration with tomatoes and fingerling potatoes.

Kids activities will include:

• Flavored milk tasting.
• Pedal tractors.
• Barnyard animals.

A local vendor will be selling heirloom tomatoes, and the Heart of Missouri Master Gardeners will be selling perennials from the Jefferson Farm Butterfly Garden.

WHERE: MU Jefferson Farm and Garden Extension and Education Center, 4800 New Haven Road, Columbia.

WHEN: 4-7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 5.

The Tomato Festival is sponsored by the University of Missouri’s Central Missouri Research, Extension and Education Center and Jefferson Farm and Garden Extension and Education Center.