How weird is this particular festival?
Well, it’s been compared to the orange-throwing festival of Ivrea in Northern Italy and the radish-carving festival in Oaxaca, Mexico. But undoubtedly, La Tomatina is by far the messiest as well as the most peculiar.
In late August, thousands of people from around the world will flock to the small town of Buñol, near Valencia in Spain, for the joy of hurling hundreds of tons of overripe tomatoes at each other in what is considered the world’s biggest food fight.
It’s a far cry from Tomatina’s humble origins 70 years ago when, according to local legend, a small dispute between two young farmers in 1945 ended in an open battle of tomatoes in the town’s main plaza, inciting passersby to join in and launching an annual tradition that’s grown every year.
To celebrate the Tomatina’s 70th anniversary, this year the town plans to stock “more tomatoes than ever” – a record 150 tons as arms for the epic food fight.
Also for the first time, the festival is hosting the Tomatina Race, during which runners must overcome tomato-made obstacles.
Tomatina organisers as well have launched an international social media campaign to promote the festivities and attract more visitors during the week-long festival that includes parades, music, dancing and fireworks.
Second only to the famous “Running of the Bulls” in Pamplona, La Tomatina is held on the last Wednesday of August and attracts as many as 50,000 visitors to Buñol, swelling its resident population of 10,000.
The celebration starts the day before with an all-night street party. At 9am the next day, participants arrive to the town square where they breakfast on rolls and pastries before launching their tomatoes. As their red projectiles fly, townspeople hose them with water from their windows.
On either side of the wall, there’s no hiding from the attack of the tomatoes Photo: La Tomatina.org
Understandably, the tomatoes start turning into sauce in the streets.
The Tomatina Festival runs during the last week of August. The tomato fight will be fought on August 26.
Source: Forbes
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