La Tomatina is the world’s biggest tomato fight that happens in the place of Spain named Bunol near the city of Valencia. It is celebrated on the last Wednesday of every august starting from the year 1945. The highlight of this festival is that it takes place between 11 am 1 pm. How is La Tomatina celebrated? People throw tomatoes to each other and entertain themselves. Such huge numbers are the participation that it has become the victim of its own success.
To brief you about its history, It was all started back from 1945 when some young boys went to the town square to attend a parade and encountered an accident when a person hit the vegetable market. People started to pelt each other with tomatoes until the local authorities ended the battle. Since then, it became very much popular and declared one of the international festivals in Spain. The special day is also called “The Red Day”.
Here you will see 6 interesting facts about the thrilling adventure La Tomatina festival
1. 90000+ Pounds of tomatoes are used
La Tomatina is the world’s biggest festival celebrated by throwing tomatoes to the people all over the city of Bunol. The fun fact that lies here are the huge quantity of tomatoes that comes in large trucks all the way from southern Spain. How many pounds of tomatoes are used in La Tomatina? Over 90000 pounds of tomatoes are kept especially for this festival and have proved a huge bash in the world. Every year, there is an increase in the number of tomatoes because of the increased number of people participating in this auspicious festival.
2. Tomatoes are specially reserved for this day
Large tons of trucks are reserved full of red fresh tomatoes for this special and entertaining festival that comes all the way from southern Spain. One fun fact about the game is that the tomatoes firstly are squeezed and then thrown to the people so that it does not hurt anyone. The tomatoes are very fresh and red which brings glamour to the festival. Various games and events happen during this day which gives a cherry on the cake like the bullfight, horse riding, etc. People know what Spain is all about.
3. Rain dance to wash off the tomatoes
La Tomatina is all about enjoying with food fights and once it’s done, all it is left with is the rain dance to wash off the tomatoes from the body. It has an arrangement of gallons of water so as to wash off all the tomatoes and cleaning the body and is a wonderful moment of life that very few people can get a chance to explore. As it happens only once in a year in the summers, people revive the rain and loves the way they are treated at the festival. That is the reason behind increasing people’s participation in future years.
4. Originated from food fights in the street
The fact of its origin is not exactly known to the people but they say that it originated from a street fight where young boys indulged in a fight with a person who accidentally fell on the vegetable market. They were throwing tomatoes to each other until the local police wrapped up the battle. Since then in 1945, this came into the trend but in the early 50s, the government banned the festival and withdrew again after a few years.
5. La Tomatina dominated the world
La Tomatina festival was recreated in many parts of the world like in Chicago, Columbia, etc. Unfortunately, they all failed because it was said that “Wastage of Tomatoes” was being done which brought famine in the country. It had great criticism from the people towards the recreation of this festival. That’s what defines Spain famous for organizing the festival and knocked off all other countries by its capability. It is the only country that has proven itself to stand out in the festival of tomatoes.
6. After Tomatoes fight, city streets turn clean
After the war between the people is over, the next event is cleaning up the city with waters. The fact is that city becomes so clean after washing because of the acid content in the tomatoes that helps the streets to be cleaner. People wash off themselves to remove any acid in their bodies.
La Tomatina has great enthusiasm and glamour in the places of Spain as well as in the world. It has always been successful by the large crowd of participation and the fun. People entertain themselves with tomatoes and the city turns into a red city. It is worth attending the festival, no matter which place you belong to. Happy La Tomatina.
