Trifter

La Tomatina, is a festival that takes place each year in Buñol, Spain on the last Wednesday of August. It is a week long music, parade, cooking, and firework festival. Sounds pretty mundane, right? Not exactly! The highlight of the festival is a giant food fight. But, not just any food fight. La Tomatina only involves locally grown tomatoes.

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Although no one is sure how exactly the La Tomatina festival began, it is said to be in honor of the patron saints, San Luis Bertràn and Mare de Déu dels Desemparats. Locals believe that the festival originated in the 1940’s from a group of disgruntled townspeople that used tomatoes to attack the city councilmen during a town festivity.

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Since 1952, thousands of tourist have flocked to the city to participate, and every year the festival sees a growing number of participants. Francisco Franco temporarily halted La Tomatina during the Spanish State period, but after his death in the 1970’s, the festival was reborn. Last year, over 30,000 people packed Plaza del Pueblo, the small main square of Bunol, to participate in the La Tomatina festival.

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The first event of La Tomatina is the greased pole climb. Locals grease a pole and secure a ham at the top of the pole. Meanwhile, the crowd is being showered with water hoses and worked into a frenzy. The wet crowd must then get someone to the top of the slick pole to release the ham.

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After someone manages to release the ham from the pole, the food fight can begin. Dozens of tractors ride through the Plaza del Pueblo dumping out one hundred metric tons of locally grown tomatoes onto the streets. Water cannons are fired to signal the beginning of the sixty minute giant tomato fight.

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The food fight can become quite brutal as tomatoes are hurled at anything and everything. Tourist and cameras are the favorite targets. All participants are encouraged to wear safety goggles, but few do. There are very few rules to this giant tomato fight. First, only tomatoes may be thrown. Second, the tomatoes must be “squished” before they are thrown. It is also customary for men to go without a shirt and women to wear white. Third, no one may rip anyone else’s clothing off. However, this rule is often ignored, especially if a man wears a shirt or a woman isn’t wearing white.

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After sixty minutes of the giant tomato fight, the water cannons are fired a second time to signal that no more tomatoes can be hurled. Fire trucks hose the streets while participants are hosed off by locals or take a dip in the Buñol River. 

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