Tomatina
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La Tomatina is a festival held on a Wednesday towards the end of August at Buñol, Valencia, Spain. Tens of thousands of participants come from all over the world to fight in a harmless battle where more than one hundred metric tons of over-ripe tomatoes are thrown in the streets.
Overview
The weeklong festival features music, parades, dancing, and fireworks. On the night before the tomato fight, participants of the festival compete in a paella cook-off.
Approximately 30,000 people come to the tomato fight, and 240,000 pounds of tomatoes are used. There are not many accommodations for people who come to La Tomatina, and thus most people stay in Valencia and take the 38 km bus or train over to Buñol. In preparation for the dirty mess that will ensue, shopkeepers cover their storefronts in order to protect them from the carnage. At around 11:00 am, the first event of the Tomatina begins. A ham is placed upon a large greased pole, and the tomato fight can begin only when someone is able to climb to the top and bring it down. People struggle against each other, climbing atop one another, in order to be the one to pull down the ham. With this victory the tomato throwing begins.
Many trucks haul the bounty of tomatoes into the center of the town, Plaza del Pueblo. The tomatoes come from Extremadura, Spain, where they are less expensive. The signal for the beginning of the fight is firing of the cannon, and the chaos begins. Once it begins, the battle is generally every man for himself, but it is not uncommon for it to develop into girls vs. guys. Those who partake in this event are strongly encouraged to wear protective goggles and gloves. In addition, they must squish the tomatoes before throwing for safety precautions. Another rule is that no one is allowed to bring into this fight anything that may provoke someone into a more serious brawl, for instance a bottle. While the natives enjoy tearing the ragged clothing off other people, it is highly frowned upon to tear someone else's clothing. Somewhere between an hour and two hours, the fighting ends and the cannon is fired once more to signal the end. At this point no more tomatoes can be thrown. The cleaning process involves the use of fire trucks to spray down the streets, with water provided from a Roman aqueduct. People find water to wash themselves, most likely at the Buñol River.
The celebration concludes with the festival of the town's patron saints, San Luis Bertràn, and the Virgin Mary.
Exact date
While many websites claim that the festival is always held on the last Wednesday in August, however this date is somewhat inconsistent in practice. For instance, in 2001 the festival was held on August 22 despite August 29 being the final Wednesday of that August. While based on this discrepancy the rule may appear to be "the fourth Wednesday of August", this characterization is also inaccurate: in 2005, the festival was held on August 31st which was the fifth Wednesday in August.History
The tomato fight has been a strong tradition in Buñol since 1944 simply for fun and pleasure - there is no known political or religious significance today. No one is compltetely certain how this event originated and became a large holiday, but the one thing that is certain is that it began with someone throwing a tomato at another person. Possible theories on how the Tomatina began include a local food fight among friends, a juvenile class war, a volley of tomatoes from bystanders at a carnival parade, a practical joke on a bad musician, the anarchic aftermath of an accidental lorry spillage, or most prominently among Spaniards that disgruntled townspeople attacked city councilmen with tomatoes during a town celebration. Whatever happened to begin the tradition, it was enjoyed so much that it was repeated the next year, and the year after that, and so on. The holiday was banned by Franco for having no religious significance, but returned in the 70s after his demise. [link]
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