Spain’s La Tomatina Festival
Cathyliy-Class 169
Every year on the last Wednesday of August, Bunol, the normally sleepy Spanish
town becomes the center stage for the world’s largest food fight—the La Tomatina.
The festival can be traced back to a group of young people who decided to disrupt a
parade that they were not allowed to take part in by attacking everyone with the produce
they got from a nearby vegetable vendor. Luckily for all, it happened to be tomatoes. The
kids had so much fun that they kept returning every year and soon other people joined in. A
fun festival was born!
Over the years, the town has changed this food fight into a weeklong festival that
includes colorful parades, dancing, and fireworks. It is no wonder that the La Tomatina has
become one of Spain’s most popular festivals.
While the rules require that a volunteer has to climb a very smooth pole to get the
Spanish ham that lies atop before the event can begin, organizers do realize that this is a
difficult task. Last year was no exception. After some brave, young boys attempted to climb
the pole, officials gave the start signal and volunteers on five trucks came carrying almost
130 tons of tomatoes. These tomatoes were given out to the awaiting food fighters, many of
who were wearing safety glasses to protect their eyes from the fruit’s juice. Some even got
into the spirit by dressing up as tomatoes themselves.
Within a few minutes, the whole town was covered with tomatoes. The festival did
not come to an end until every last red ball turned into pulp. The happy partygoers then
went on to clean themselves up. As for the square itself? It was cleaned up in no time at all!