La Tomatina Festival

La Tomatina is ‘World’s Biggest Food Fight’ festival held in Buñol near Valencia, Spain. The event has become one of the highlights on Spain’s summer festival which is held every year on the last Wednesday in August. It is the 11-day festival. It just started as good, messy fun. It is believed that in 1944 this began as a simple tomato fight between groups of friends in the town’s main square – the Plaza del Pueblo.The festival is in honor of the town’s patron saints, Luis Bertran and the Mare de Deu dels Desemparats. Nearly 20,000 to 40,000 tomato enthusiasts arrive in this huge tomato fight.

The tomato fight takes place between 11 am and 1 pm on that day. Around 10 am, many trucks tow the bounty of edible red tomatoes to main Town Square. Nearly 90,000 pounds of tomatoes are used. Five bulbous, tomato-packed rockets are fired into the sky to begin the festival and then commence a one hour frenzy of tomato throwing.

Certain rules have been set down by the Bunyol Town Council. Bringing any kind of bottle or object which can cause an accident is banned. Tomatoes must be crushed before throwing so that they don’t injure anybody. It is forbidden to rip anybody’s clothing. La Tomatina week-long festival featuring music, parades, dancing, and fireworks.

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