How do citizens of the ancient town of Ivrea, Italy celebrate carnival and Mardi Gras season? By pummeling each other with 500,000 kilograms of oranges, obviously. A few days ago, flying citrus filled the air in Ivrea in its annual, awesome Battle of the Oranges. And it's all because the town's big bad bully tried to pick on a peasant during the peasant's daughter's wedding.

Yes, the Battaglia delle Arance recreates a heroic battle between townspeople and a tyrannical overlord and his henchmen, only using organes, instead of swords and pitchforks. The legend goes like this: Sometime between the 12th and 13th centuries, Ivrea’s lord attempted to rape the daughter of a miller on the eve of her wedding, exercising his droit du seigneur (right of the lord) to take the virginity of his serfs’ daughters. In a twist of fate, the plan backfired, and the rebellious young woman decapitated him. With one brave strike of her sword, she set the town free from his oppression. The townspeople battled against the lord’s henchmen (who were raised up on carriages and thus had an advantage), and eventually emerged victorious. These days, the oranges represent the evil overlord's head.

You'll see in the video how many orange throwers flow through the crowd in carriages – they represent the tyrant's henchmen. The woman in white with the red headdress signifies the serf's brave daughter.

You might be thinking, "Why is Europe so obsessed with throwing fruit at each other? First La Tomatina, now this?" However, the Battle of the Oranges isn't a free-for-all for tourists and locals alike. It’s highly structured, steeped in history and contains some competitive elements – oh, and did we mention there is a lot of mulled wine flowing through many of the competitors' veins? It’s free and fun to watch for nearly 100,000 spectators, but for the nine competitive teams of almost 4,000, it’s serious business and the highlight of the year, because of its deep cultural significance of freedom from oppression.