What is La Tomatina?
What?
La Tomatina is a festival of throwing tomatoes celebrated in Spain
When?
La Tomatina is held on the last Wednesday of August every year
Where?
This festival takes place in Buñol near Valencia in Spain.
Why?
People celebrate it simply to have fun
Initially started on a small scale, this festival is now popular across the globe. Thousands of people flock to Spain simply to experience this fun festival and be a part of the new tradition. Several hundred trucks of tomatoes are brought in the city for people to celebrate this event without any hindrance.
However, the crowd and the trucks itself become a very big hindrance for outsiders to enjoy the event. You will find yourself stuck behind the crown and trucks are found clogged till many lanes away from the main action. Hence, if you are not present much before the event is supposed to start, you are sure to miss the action.
History of La Tomatina
- Although there are no evidences of the origins of this event, it is believed that it was started in 1945. The event occurred during the parade of big heads in Bunyol. When one of the youngsters watching the parade tried to join, he was pushed away by one of the giants of the parade.
In retaliation, those youngsters, and many present nearby, started throwing tomatoes on the giant heads. This continued for a while until local police came to cease the fight.
These same crowd returned on the next year as well, but this time with their own tomatoes, to throw at the giants. And they did it once again. Thereon, the ‘La Tomatina’ started and now it is celebrated for fun and is now one of the most popular Spanish festivals.
Rules
If you have planned to go for La Tomatina, you will have to observe some rules as mentioned by Bunyol Town Council. These rules are:
- Do not tear clothes
- Do not bring harmful things like bottles, knives, etc with you
- Throw crushed tomatoes at others to not to harm them
