If you haven´t heard of it, it may sound crazy but its a big tomato fight! The main event is where a dumpster-like lorry drives through the town square and surrounding streets with people in the back who throw over 40 tonnes-worth of over-ripe tomatoes at the participants on the streets. The roads look like rivers of tomato juice and everyone is covered top to toe in it.
The fiestas begin the night before with the traditional feria in the town where drinking and dancing go on until the wee hours. The next day, the town gives out pastries to those who don't suffer too bad a hangover and then El Palo Jabón (the soap stick) is signalled to start. A greased-up pole with a jamón (ham) at the top is erected and people try to climb up it to reach the prize. The tomato battle can't start until someone has reached the jamón so everyone is desperate to have a go. When the meat has been met by one lucky and probably very sticky person, the water canons fire into the air to signal the start of the tomato frenzy. For an hour, people are drenched in squashed tomatoes and are loving it.
History
The fiesta is said to have been conceived when in 1945 a group of youngsters wanted to take part in the gigantes and cabezudos fiesta staging a brawl in the town square, the Plaza del Pueblo. Tomatoes were the first thing to hand as there was a vegetable stand nearby. Police had to break up the fight and the participants had to pay for the damage.
The following year on the same Wednesday, the youngsters did the same thing but this time they brought their own tomatoes from home. Once again, the police had to stop the fight but after some years of the same thing happening the tradition was established. Although there were various attempts to stop the tomato fight since then, in 1957 the fiesta became official and some basic rules and regulations being implemented.
Each year, the local people brought their own tomatoes to the festival but in 1980 the town hall took charge of the organisation and the supply of tomatoes, which come from the other side of Spain where the tomatoes are especially grown for this event.
Limited entry
The town of Buñol is about 35km inland from Valencia. The actual town has just over 9,000 residents but on this one day each year about 5 times that amount descend on the town to take part in the activities. This is the first year that the town hall want to organise the fiesta better to make it safe for all. What with trucks, tonnes of tomatoes and sticky poles anything could happen. So they are limiting entrance to the town centre for the tomato fight to 20,000 people - 5,000 tickets are sold to local residents and the rest are available for everyone else. There is a 10€ charge for a ticket which you exchange in the town for a wrist band and you will have to be very quick to get yours as they sold out very quickly this year for tomorrow's event. Good luck for next year!
Tomatina take-off
The Tomatina fiesta has inspired others all over the world to stage their own version, from the City of Reno in the USA to Dongguan in China and even a scene that mimics the event in the 6th installment of the saga Tekken fighting game by Namco. It seems that everyone loves a good old food fight!
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