La Tomatina is one of the most famous festivals of Spain. Image: Tweeted by @NickLovesSpain
No matter which country you travel to, you will notice that there are festivals and celebrations of every kind. In India, we have Holi where we apply colours and gulaal on each other. And in Spain, there is the world-famous 'La Tomatina' festival. The event takes place on the last Wednesday of every August, which falls on August 30th this year. Interestingly, it is also the 76th anniversary of the festival. At this time of every year, the village Bunol near Valencia in Spain becomes a playground for revellers who throw overripe tomatoes at each other. Take a look at the video of the 76th edition of La Tomatina here:
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During the two years of the pandemic, the La Tomatina celebrations had to be halted. However, in 2022, the festival returned much to the delight of Spain locals as well as tourists.
La Tomatina is an international tourist attraction that sees thousands of visitors thronging to Spain every year. Tickets start at 12 euros and about 120 tonnes of tomatoes are used during the festival. Participants are encouraged to wear old clothes and closed shoes and secure their belongings in plastic bags. The maximum capacity of the festival is 22,000 participants. Trucks containing tomatoes enter the celebratory area with locals starting the process of throwing tomatoes at each other. Revellers celebrate for an hour after which the water cannons start spraying down people and houses to remove the tomato pulp. Then, people go back to their hotels, take a shower and in the evening, they celebrate the festival with another party. It's messy, it's icky but it's a whole lot of fun!
The history of La Tomatina dates back to 1945, when some young people were attending a parade with musicians, Giants and Big Head figures. One participant accidently fell off the parade and he started to hit everything in his path. A furious crowd built up and a proper brawl ensured. There was a market of vegetables nearby and people started to hit each other with tomatoes. The rest, as they say, is history.