The festival takes place every year on the last Wednesday of the month of August. It is believed that the festival dates back to the year 1945 when a man was pushed afloat during an annual carnival. In a fit of rage, the man started hurling tomatoes at every one he could see. The act became a ritual and finally assumed the form of an annual event almost a decade later in the year 1957. The festival takes place in the town of Bunol in Valencia, Spain.
5 interesting facts about the festival
- Over 45,000 people participate in the mega tomato fight. Earlier the event was open to all but was later put under a uniform ticketing system to monitor the number of participation.
- The number of participants outnumbers the actual population of the town of Bunol which is not more than roughly 10,000 people.
- Tomatoes for the fight come from a place called Extremadura; they are sold at cheaper rates here.
- "The signal for the beginning of the fight is firing of the cannon, and the chaos begins," as noted on latomatina.org.
- Many trucks are employed to carry close to 150 tons of tomatoes to the center of the town, Plaza del Pueblo.
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