In late Wednesday, if you’re up for messy endeavors and creative uses of food, head to Spain’s messiest festival in August. Held in Buñol, roughly 40km west of Valencia, La Tomatina is a tomato-throwing orgy that ups an otherwise population of 9,000 to roughly 40,000. Yup, that many people are interested in throwing tomatoes at each other and covering themselves in red. Sound like fun? Or a nightmare? As long as there are plenty of showers nearby, I guess it could be interesting as long as you’re not wearing your favorite white shirt.
The mayhem takes place on the town’s main square and Calle del Cid. At the kick off, starting at 11:00 am, a large greased pole with a ham attached to the end of it is hoisted into the air, and there’s a mad scramble as people struggle against each other to pull it down. After that, a rocket swooshes skywards and over 100 tonnes of ripe, squishy tomatoes are tipped from trucks to the waiting crowd.
Then, all bets are off and its a frenzy mess for the taking – one massive fun and chaotic tomato battle. The local fire brigade gets involved too since they’re the ones who hose all that pulp off your body after you get pounced on.
The festival started in 1945, and the tails about how it started range from a popular tale of disgruntled townsfolk attacking city councilmen during a town celebration, an anti-Franco protest or simply a fun food fight between friends. The festival is now held in honour of the town’s patron saint, St Louis Bertrand, and the Mare de Déu dels Desemparats (Mother of God of the Defenceless).
Another version is that it started during a parade in 1945 of gigantes y cabezudos, young men who wanted to be in the event staged a brawl in town’s main square, the Plaza del Pueblo. There was a vegetable stand nearby, so they picked up tomatoes and used them as weapons. The police had to intervene to break up the fight and forced those responsible to pay the damages incurred. This is the most popular of many theories about how the Tomatina started.
The following year the young people repeated the fight on the same Wednesday of August, only this time they brought their own tomatoes from home. They were again dispersed by the police. After repeating this in subsequent years, the party was established. In 1950, the town allowed the tomato hurl to take place, however the next year it was again stopped. A lot of young people were imprisoned but the Buñol residents forced the authorities to let them go.
The festival gained popularity with more and more participants getting involved every year. After subsequent years it was banned again with threats of serious penalties. In 1957, some young people planned to celebrate “the tomato’s funeral”, with singers, musicians, and comedies.
The main attraction however, was the coffin with a big tomato inside being carried around by youth and a band playing the funeral marches. Considering this popularity of the festival and the alarming demand, 1957 saw the festival becoming official with certain rules and restrictions. These rules have gone through a lot of modifications over the years.
Want the experience? Hhead to Spain in August and bring lots of towels and dark shirts.
Photo Credits: LP and from the official La Tomatina site.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
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Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
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