Tomatina

There are some crazy Fiestas here in Spain and the Tomatina is way up there in the list. And it's on today...

This festival is in the tien of Bunyol, about 3 hours from here, near to Valencia, and is a festival I'd love to take part in. PZarticipants throw tomatoes and get involved in a tomato fight purely for the fun of it.

The festival dates back to 1945 when a group of boys joined in the annual parade, one of them tripped (or was tripped) and a fight ensued which grew and grew ..at hand there was a veg shop from which people started grabbing the procurement and throwing it.

Soon the festival was 'formslised' and over ripe tomatoes which could not be sold became the ammunition. Nowadays over 120 tonnes of tomatoes are delivered to the main square.

The Festival begins at midday with a bang. Trucks loaded with tomatoes proceed to drive through the fight area while some locals in the back of the trucks throw the cargo at all of the festival goers, more are simply poured from the back. As soon as the truck passes, everyone dives on the ground scooping up tomatoes to get themselves armed for the battle…that’s when the fun begins! At 13.00 there is another bang when all tomato throwing stops.

The number of people is well controlled these days and if course its begins a big business with ticket sales and packs ranging from about €130 to €500 which can include just a t shirt and goggles to a full day's and night's experience and sccommodation.

I've not been yet, but I'd love to...

More info here: https://latomatina.info/