La Tomatina, a festival in Buñol, Spain, involves participants throwing tomatoes at one other. It is said to be the largest food fight in the world. The festival began as a food fight between friends in the 1940s and has since grown into a popular tourist attraction. Prior to 2013, the festival did not limit the number of guests, putting a strain on Buñol’s population of approximately 9,000. Since 2013, the festival has had a ticketed event with a capacity for 20,000 people.
History
The La Tomatina Festival began on the last Wednesday of August, 1945, when some young people gathered in the town plaza to watch the Giants and Big-Heads figures parade. During the festivities, one participant’s Big-head slipped off. The participant erupted into a rage, hitting everything in their route. A market stall selling vegetables was targeted by the throng, who began pelting one other with tomatoes until local forces intervened.
The following year, several young people had a pre-planned argument and brought their own tomatoes from home. Although the local forces broke it up, this marked the start of an annual ritual. Thousands of individuals followed the lads’ example throughout the years.
La Tomatina was banned by Francisco Franco in the early 1950s due to the festival’s lack of religious significance, but this did not deter participants, who were jailed. The people protested the prohibition, and the festival was reopened with more participants. The festival was discontinued again until 1957, when, in protest, people carried a coffin with a large tomato. The parade was led by a music band performing funeral marches. The opposition was successful, and the La Tomatina Festival was eventually permitted and made an official event.
The festival became well-known throughout Spain as a consequence of a report by Javier Basilio, a broadcaster for the Spanish television program Informe Semanal. Since then, the number of participants has expanded year after year, as has the excitement around the La Tomatina Festival. In 2002, the Secretary Department of Tourism recognized Buñol’s La Tomatina as a Fiesta of International Tourist Interest due to its popularity.
When is La Tomatina
- La Tomatina 2024 : 28th of August
- La Tomatina 2025 : 27th of August
What happens at La Tomatina?
At around 12 p.m., a lot of trucks transport the harvest of tomatoes to the town’s center, Plaza del Pueblo. The tomatoes are from Extremadura, and they are less expensive. The event does not officially begin until one courageous soul has climbed to the top of a two-story high, greased-up wooden pole and reached the prized ham at the top. In practice, this process takes a long time, and the celebration begins even if no one has won the hefty reward. The discharge of water cannons signaled the start of the clash, and chaos ensued. Once the battle begins, it’s usually every man for himself.
After an hour, the fighting stops. At this moment, no more tomatoes will be tossed. The cleansing procedure involves spraying the streets with water from a Roman aqueduct using fire vehicles. The officials appear to be more concerned with cleaning the town than with washing the visitors, thus some people seek water from the Bunol River to wash themselves, however other helpful citizens will rinse down passers-by. The acidity of the tomato pulp flushes the ground, leaving it clean.
La Tomatina In Other Countries
La Tomatina Buñol has inspired similar celebrations around the world:
- Since 1982, Twin Lakes, Colorado has hosted the “Colorado-Texas Tomato War,” in which Texans and Coloradans compete. The Coloradans also seek to overcome the Texans’ straw Alamo effigy, and typically succeed.
- Since 2004, the Colombian municipality of Sutamarchán has had a similar festival on June 15, when a surplus of tomatoes is gathered.
- In Costa Rica, the municipality of San José de Trojas in the San Pedro district of Sarchí canton (Alajuela Province) celebrates Tomatina during the local Tomato Fair.
- On October 19, a tomato fight takes place in Dongguan, southern Guangdong province, China, with up to 15 tons of tomatoes used.
- Reno, Nevada, in the United States, has an annual hour-long tomato fight, which began in 2009. The event appears to take place on the last Sunday in August and is coordinated by the American Cancer Society. The festival was dubbed La Tomatina by the organizers, who credit the idea entirely to the Spanish festival.
- After private organizers attempted to arrange a Tomatina festival in Bangalore and Mysore, the Karnataka government banned it. According to Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, “In the name of ‘La Tomatina’ festival, permission should not be granted to waste tomatoes”. A similar plan in Delhi was canceled after receiving unfavorable feedback from the people.
- On March 26, 2013, Funtasia Island in Patna, India, held a similar La tomatina Holi event at Funtasia Water Park.
