Archive for August, 2010

Buñol in Valencia Spain has been the home of the Tomatina Festival since 1944 or 1945; a tomato fight to keep it simple. No one is completely certain how this event originated; a local food fight, a juvenile class war, a volley of tomatoes from bystanders at a carnival parade, a practical joke on a bad musician, the anarchic aftermath of an accidental lorry spillage are some of the theories about its origin. One popular theory suggests the attacking of city councilmen with tomatoes by disgruntled townspeople during a town celebration. Irrespective of its origin the act was repeated every year with greater enthusiasm and participation, banned for a period under Francisco Franco only to return in the 1970s after his demise.

The festival is held on a Wednesday towards the end of August in the town of Buñol in the Valencia region in Spain where tens of thousands of participants come from all over the world to fight in a harmless battle where more than one hundred metric tons of over-ripe tomatoes are thrown in the streets. Weeklong festivities include music, parades, dancing, and fireworks. The night before the fight participants of the festival compete in a paella cooking contest.

At around 11 am on the day of the fight a piece of ham is placed upon a large, greased pole. People struggle up the pole to retrieve the ham and only after this victory does the actual tomato-throwing begin.

The center of town is filled with tomatoes and the signal for the beginning of the fight is firing of the cannon, and the chaos begins with the battle being generally every man for himself. The tomatoes must be squished before throwing and people are advised to wear safety goggles and gloves. Another canon fire after an hour or two marks the end of the fight which is followed by the cleaning up of the town and the participants.