La Tomatina Festival
Tucked away in the countryside surrounded by almond trees, fruit trees, and grapes lies a
small town in the province of Valencia, Spain. This town is called Buñol, and has a
population of around 9,000 people. However, this population rises to over 30,000 people
on the last Wednesday in August every year. The reason for this mass gathering is a
delightfully simple concept, to throw more than 240,000 pounds of tomatoes. Quite
possibly being the largest worldwide food fight, this celebration is La Tomatina Festival
held purely for fun.
The origins of this festival are based solely upon the concept of tradition. La Tomatina
Festival first occurred un-panned in 1945. The tradition began when two young boys
attended a Giants and Big-Heads figure parade in the Buñol town square. These two young
boys got a little too rambunctious and forced one participant in the parade to fall and go
into a fit of anger aiming to strike back. This participant began to throw vegetables from a
near-by market stall. The crowd began to follow his lead, starting a tomato battle. Local
forces had to put a halt on the vegetable throwing.
The following year, the same boys recreated the event by bringing their own tomatoes and
starting a throwing battle. The police quickly put this to a stop for the next few years as the
same events occurred. However, the tradition began to gain some ground. La Tomatina
Festival was banned in the early 50’s, but made its way back and in 1957. At this time, the
