Bluegrass music plays as people gather around a display, taking pictures and talking amongst themselves. It’s humid, as is typical of a Californian summer, and the sun beats down on the crowd. Suddenly, the tension rises: the Guinness World Records Adjudicator has arrived.

The Adjudicator, or judge, is here to verify that all 241 tomatoes displayed are unique varieties. It’s Sunday, Sept. 17. The congregation is of tomato lovers from every corner of Los Gatos and they have come here to see the record for most heirloom tomato varieties displayed at once be broken.

Though some of the group are simply here to watch, many of those gathered are tomato experts. Diane Matarangas, the co-owner of Penny Lane Farm, is one of them.

“I’m a tomato grower and a tomato lover,” she said. “I’m just the tomato mama.”

Matarangas has volunteered to be at the event alongside World Tomato Society (WTS) co-founder Linda Lico, who wore a straw hat with tomatoes, a large gingham ribbon and a tractor stitched in.

“Well, it puts us on the map for one thing … it raises awareness for the different varieties of tomatoes,” Lico said of the event’s significance for the WTS. “[But] it’s more about the people that are involved, they’re socially aware, they’re not just standing around and giving people orders, they are getting their hands dirty, making this happen.”

Cynthia Sandberg, another co-founder, is a certified tomato enthusiast.

“Tomatoes are the world’s most popular fruit… No other fruit is more cultivated, or used [in food],” she said. “When someone [starts] a garden, that’s the first thing they want to grow: tomatoes.”

Though other onlookers are not quite as seasoned, nearly all of them are lovers of the red fruit as well.

Gallery • 3 Photos

A selection of tomatoes are on display during the festival. The festival took place on Sept. 17, in Los Gatos.

“I love tomatoes. I come down every weekend for the Farmer’s Market. Thought we’d wander down [to look at the festival],” Meg Yarka, a local, said. “I love tomatoes. My husband’s a big tomato grower.”

People of all ages gathered for the event from seniors to toddlers. Festival-goers clapped their hands to cheerful bluegrass music, took pictures with the big red “Tomatr” truck full of tomatoes, tried wine and tomato pairings or walked to the face-painting stand, where a sign declared: “Instead of wearing your emotions on your sleeve, try a Solanium Lycoperisicum on your cheek.”

Guinness Adjudicator Christina Conlon had been one of many who had marked their calendars for the event months ahead.

“I myself am kind of a foodie and no one in our company’s a person who loves tomatoes so they did think of me specifically for this event, but not because I am any sort of agricultural expert,” she said. “I have been really excited to come to this … I’ve been looking forward to this for months now.”

Conlon also had a more personal reason for enjoying her job that day.

“I was previously a corporate bankruptcy and restructuring attorney, which was a lot less interesting and fun and different,” she said. “Now I get to be part of some of the best days of people’s lives, as opposed to some of their worst.”