Tomatina festival in Spain
The most popular festival held in the east of Spain is the Tomatina festival. Did the scene of “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara” pop up in your head? The festival is similar to the festival of colors ~ Holi in India. Though the participants are allowed only to play it with tomatoes.
The participants thus get indulge in a tomato fight, where the tomatoes have to crush first and the pulp is then used to play the fight only for entertainment purposes.
The festival is meant to be held in the last week of August. In 2019 it took place on 28th August, Wednesday.
The History of Tomatina Festival
In 1945 during one of the local parades in the town Buñol some young boys who took part in the parade accidentally end up starting the tomato fight. The rage of locals in the incident led to the fruit battle which was eventually stopped by the local police.
In 1955, the next year after this incident, some young boys planned to re-create the tomato battle of 1945. Although the police eventually intervened again and stopped the fruit battle of 1955.
The recreation of 1945 fruit battle by some youngsters led to the annual tradition of fighting with tomatoes and the festival was thus named – “Tomatina Festival”
The number of participants officially participating in the fruit battle constantly increases every year.
Rules of the Battle
Following are the rules of battles officially issued when the festival began to happen traditionally every year –
- No participant is allowed to throw any hard object.
- The tomatoes have to be squashed before a participant throws it on someone.
- No tearing and throwing of t-shirts are allowed.
- Keep a safe distance from the tomato trucks.
- Follow the instructions of security guards.
- Stop throwing tomatoes when the battle ends.
2019 Tomatina Fact –
In 2019, during the Tomatina festival, more than 20,000 people threw 145 tonnes of tomatoes at each other in the epic fruit battle in Spain.
A participant of the US said –
“It was amazing, it was the best day of our life. So many trucks came, we thought there wouldn’t be very many tomatoes but there were so many. We were soaked in them.”
On Deman News – a Youtube News Channel uploaded the video filming the 2019 Tomatina Festival of Spain.
Click here to watch.
The festival is one of the craziest festivals is celebrated in Spain.
More Facts about the festival
- The Tomatina festival happens annually and comes up with other festivities in hand. The week is occupied by massive parades and fireworks. And in the same week, some grand cooking contests are also conducted. Thus making it a Food Festival of Spain.
- The tomatoes used in a fight are low quality and cheap tomatoes. For in an hour of Tomatina fight almost 1, 50,000 tomatoes are used by the participants in the battle.
- After the fight, the fire-fighters wash the streets and the people with water pipes and strangely the streets look cleaner than before because of the tomatoes pulp act as a cleanser. The participants to claim to have glowing skin after the battle.
- Many of the participants wear swimming glasses while playing the Tomatina festival ~ a battle with tomatoes, to protect their eyes.
- Up to 2013, there was no ticket system and anyone could make their way to Buñol to take part in the grand Tomatina festival. However, since the last six years, it has become mandatory for the participants to buy tickets. And after the ticket system, approximately 20,000 participants were increased in total.
- The fees of entry and participation in the festival, according to the official tourism website of Spain is euro 10. For detail information regarding the tickets visit the tourism website of Spain.
- It is recommended to wear old clothes and shoes, though some participants are usually found wearing white. And this has now become a new trend in the Tomatina festival.
- Apart from all these make sure to be cautious when you are in the fruit battle sometimes people aren’t kind enough to squash the tomatoes before throwing, and sometimes they are lucky enough to not get caught by guards.
Reasons to Indulge in the Tomatina festival in Spain.
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The Photographer’s Delight.
So if photography is your passion Tomatina has a lot more to offer. The pictures of the festival are clicked by the number of photographers from around the globe attending the festival. The playful mode of participants with a huge amount of tomatoes squashed all around gives some amazing shots. The internet is filled with amazing and wonderful pictures of the festival by many photographers and participants. In case you like clicking pictures, or professional work in the field of photography, visiting the Tomatina festival can boost your content.
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Visit the Farm of Tomatina tomatoes.
Low-quality tomatoes are specially grown for the Tomatina festival in Spain. Before you began the battle you can have a visit to the farms and enjoy them before they are smashed. Exploring the local tomato farms is counted among the best things to do in Spain during the Tomatina festival.
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You Can’t-Miss The Grand After Party.
After the Tomatina festival, a grand party is organized with amazing music and food. DJs and musicians from around the globe are invited to do concerts and conduct the party. The venue also has amazing drinks and food to complete the grand after-party.
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Explore the Rich History of Bañol.
The Castillo de Buñol is one of the popular Spain attractions which was constructed in the 13th century and has seen the rise and fall of multiple empires. During the festival week, Castillo holds a number of music events and a lot of participants visit the place to party and have fun as they explore the rich history of Bañol.
People also visit Valencia, a city near Bañol. This city is known for its hi-tech travel destination. The city is also majorly popular as a shopping spot. Chic Market, Madame Mim, Lladro, and Bodegas Baviera are some must-visits places and are most crowded in the Tomatina festival month.
With so much to experience and enjoy, it seems impossible to ignore August and miss the Tomatina festival.
We are sure when for the first time you saw the celebration of the Tomatina festival in “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara” you got excited and wanted to know the details of the whole event. The scenes that gave viewers legit travel goals. The squashed tomatoes, the fruit battle, the playful participants and that song, it definitely impressed us all enough to rush to Spain to squash tomatoes.
We hope this article captivated you and provided you with all the details that you were curious to grab about the grand fruit battle of Spain.
La Tomatina sees tens of thousands of revelers gather on the streets of the Valencian town of Bunol to hurl more than 160 tonnes of over-ripe tomatoes. The annual event sees the fruit thrown, squished and splattered through the streets of Bunol, 25 miles west of Valencia. Revelers come from around the world to take part in the fruit-flinging festival.
When will you go?
Grab the tickets to the Tomatina festival and enjoy everything at its best.
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