AMAZING WORLD – LA TOMATINA (TOMATO FIGHT) FESTIVAL

Apr 05, 2015 Victor Okech Amazing World, Life Style, News, World 0

La Tomatina is a food fight festival held on the last Wednesday of August each year in the town of Bunol near to Valencia in Spain. Thousands upon thousands of people make their way from all corners of the world to fight in this World’s Biggest Food Fight where more than one hundred metric tons of over-ripe tomatoes are thrown in the streets.

The week-long festival features music, parades, dancing, and fireworks. On the night before the tomato fight, participants of the festival compete in a paella cooking contest. Paella is a Valencian rice dish with ancient roots that originated in its modern form in the mid-nineteenth century near Albufera lagoon, a coastal lagoon in Valencia, on the east coast of Spain

Before 2013 anywhere from 40,000 to 50,000 (reported to be 50,000 in 2012) people crammed into this huge tomato fight, greatly expanding Bunol’s normal 9,000 person population. Since the 2013 event official ticketing was put into place limiting the number of participants to just 20,000 lucky people.

The big tomato fight or la tomatina in Spanish will take place:

Bunyol, Spain — August 26th – 11AM

125,000 kg of tomatoes are brought into the city via truck so ammunition is never short. 5 massive tomato-packed rockets are exploded in the air to commence the fight.

Rules of La Tomatina (Tomato Fight) Festival 

1. You must squish each tomato before throwing it so that the force of the vegetable against you target’s head will not cause injury.
2. Only tomatoes can be thrown.
3. Do not bring bottles or hard objects as they can cause accidents and hurt other participants
4. Do not rip other people’s T-shirts
5. You must squash the tomatoes before throwing them as this reduces the impact
6. Ensure you keep a safe distance from the lorries (the lorries that bring the ammunition of rotting tomatoes)
7. As soon as you hear the second shot, you must stop throwing tomatoes

What do I need to attend La Tomatina (Tomato Fight) Festival?

Being that the La Tomatina (Tomato Fight) Festival  continually attracts more and more people each year. It would be advisable to plan for your trip to Bunol, Valencia – Spain.

First and foremost you must secure your accommodation by booking for hotels early enough. If you have friends and relatives in Spain then it is good courtesy to call them before hand so that they can accommodate you.

Some useful tips when attending La Tomatina (Tomato Fight) Festival

1. Wear closed shoes that you don’t mind throwing away afterwards. If you wear flip-flops, you may get hurt, or you could lose them easily during the battle.
2. Wear old clothes, or clothes that you aren’t planning to wear again. They will most likely end up damaged from being ripped or incredibly dirty from the stains of the tomatoes.
3. You may find goggles useful. However, it is safer if you just ensure that you always have something clean to wipe your eyes with. The best thing is if you tuck your T-Shirt into your shorts to keep the bottom part of your T-shirt clean and dry so that you can use it to wipe your face at some point in the fight.
4. La Tomatina (Tomato Fight) Festival is an amazing event and you might want to take some pictures to keep the memories or to boast to your friends that you attended the event. Either case you need to bring in a waterproof camera!
5. Do not miss the Palojabón – a soap-covered pole with a Spanish ham at the top: whoever can climb the pole and get the ham can keep it!
   Stay safe and enjoy the festivities as much possible.

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• Amazing World, La Tomatina, Tomato Fight