70 Amazing Facts About La Tomatina

Facts About LA Tomatina: La Tomatina is a festival that is celebrated in the Valencian municipality of Buñol (Spain). It is always celebrated on the last Wednesday of the month of August, within the Buñol festival week and consists of the participants throwing tomatoes at each other.

70 Amazing Facts About La Tomatina

Intresting Facts About La Tomatina

  • People must not tear each other's t-shirts off.
  • La Tomatina is known for its distinct festivity.
  • Tomatoes must be crushed properly before throwing.
  • La Tomatina offers very limited tickets for the event.
  • A safe distance from the tomato trucks must be ensured.
  • The festival was officially recognized in the year 1957.
  • Security staff's instructions must be strictly followed.
  • Tomatoes are said to represent defiance and celebration.
  • The huge tomato fight is purely for entertainment purposes.
  • The tomato fight starts at 10 a.m. and lasts only for an hour.
  • The festival was banned under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco.
  • People must not throw any object other than tomatoes on other people.
  • La Tomatina was initiated in 1945 during a Giants and Big-heads parade.
  • Hard objects are restricted from being brought into the festival arena.
  • Participants are instructed to move and let in the local tomato trucks.
  • La Tomatina festival is not related to any religious or cultural symbol.
  • Residents and local communities must not be bothered by the festivities.

Funny Facts About La Tomatina

  • People protested against the ban, due to which the event restarted again.
  • Fire trucks are used to hose down the streets with water for after-cleaning.
  • La Tomatina has helped Bunol receive more visits with its growing popularity.
  • La Tomatina events for 2020 and 2021 were canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
  • No tomatoes are thrown or fought with after the designated festival time is over.
  • A tomato funeral took place where a large tomato was carried in a coffin and buried.
  • You can paint your entire city red with this amount of tomatoes used in La Tomatina.
  • About 88,000 lbs (40 metric tons) of tomatoes are used at every La Tomatina festival.
  • Authorities reduced the original number of participants from around 50,000 to 20,000.
  • As soon as the second shot is fired, people should stop throwing tomatoes at each other.
  • Various competitions for prize money are also organized amid the La Tomatina festivities.
  • La Tomatina festival only uses low-quality tomatoes that lack taste, firmness and are cheap.
  • The authorities again banned La Tomatina, and people chose a new way to protest against the ban.
  • Despite being sourced from all of Spain, the region of Extremadura is one of the major suppliers.
  • The '50s saw a ban on the La Tomatina festival due to a lack of religious or cultural roots to the event.
  • La Tomatina is accompanied by a week full of festivities, including slugfest and paella cooking contests.

Cool Facts About La Tomatina

  • Tomatoes are specially grown in Extremadura, a beautiful tourist destination situated 570 km away from Bunol.
  • Due to a report shared by the Spanish television program 'Informe Semanal,' La Tomatina found popularity worldwide.
  • In August 2015, the festival was acknowledged by the Internet giant Google by making a Google Doodle of La Tomatina.
  • The festival is also celebrated in honor of Valencian town's patron saints Luis Bertran and Mare de Deu dels Desemparats.
  • An Indian city, Bengaluru, organized a similar event once, which the authorities condemned and banned for 'wastage of food.'
  • La Tomatina represents the spirit of Spain by turning an event of conflict into a long-running heritage of an annual celebration.
  • During the festival, a lot of males and females interact with each other. In some cases, fights converted into a raunchy battle. 
  • Protesters succeeded in bringing back the event, and the annual tradition was finally adopted as an official festival in Valencia.
  • Yes. You read that right. Going to La Tomatina can restore glow to your dull skin; as tomatoes are high in potassium and vitamin C.
  • Observing the fun festival in Spain, many countries like China, Colombia, and Costa Rica started their own versions of this festival.
  • For one intense hour, the streets of Buñol become a sea of red; with half-naked people winning and losing against friends and strangers.
  • The unique annual event now represents the spirit of Spanish culture with its frolic event, bringing people together to have a joyful time.

Historical Facts About La Tomatina

  • The Spanish Department of Tourism recognized the festival as a Festivity of International Tourist Interest due to the increase in popularity.
  • There are two strict rules to be followed while enjoying La Tomatina- throw only squashed tomatoes and do not throw anything other than a tomato
  • The festival starts after any enthusiastic participant climbs the greased wooden pole known as Palojanon and pulls the ham, which hangs on the top.
  • The festival starts with the boom of a canon and ends with the second alarm. After the second alarm is sounded no-one is allowed to throw tomatoes.
  • Plan well in advance whom do you want to target as you have only an hour to imbibe the flavors of La Tomatina. The Festival lasts from noon to 1 pm.
  • While participating in the Tomatina festival, beware of the acidity of the tomatoes; as it can sting and redden your eyes; so, protective goggles are advised.
  • Firefighters wash the town and people with the hoses to clean the mess, once the fight ends. Thanks to the disinfectant property of tomatoes, the city looks clean.
  • Spanish people believe the festival is for harmless fun and not a waste of food as garbage bins in Spain have more waste each day than the tomatoes used in La Tomatina.
  • Surprisingly, although known for the La Tomatina festival, Bunol does not grow tomatoes. Tomatoes from all parts of Spain are sourced to the town for the La Tomatina festival.
  • The parade is known to be the place of accidental origin of this festival. A dispute in the parade caused angry participants to throw tomatoes and other vegetables at each other.

Facts About La Tomatina Culture

  • La Tomatina promotes happiness in the form of an entertaining event, where you meet new people and share the joy of festivities by having a tomato fight across Valencian streets.
  • On The day of La Tomatina, Buñol’s population swells from just 9,000 to about 30,000. Keeping this in mind, the authorities decided to allow only paid ticket holders to enter the town; since 2013.
  • What started as an activity of conflict grew into a fun activity the next year. A similar incident reoccurred, and this repeated a few times until the start of the yearly tradition of celebrating it as an event.
  • La Tomatina is not just a fight with tomatoes but an event attracting thousands of tourists from all over the world to a small town in Spain, acquainting them with Spanish culture, people, food, and a lot more. 
  • The festival creates an insurmountable amount of mess, but cleaning is rather easy. Due to the citric acid found in tomatoes, its magic as a disinfectant works to make the streets sparkling clean after the tomato fight.
  • In 2016, absoluta moth destroyed over 80% of tomato crop in Nigeria. When Spaniards were busy celebrating the festival, the price soared from $1.20 to $40, which made Nigerians furious. They thought it the wastage of red fruit.
  • La Tomatina has become one of the most popular tourist attractions. Surprisingly, people from every part of the world visit Spain especially for this festival. People found it crazy and one of the funny ways to reduce their frustration.
  • As a sign of protest, a tomato burial parade was held in August 1957. A music band played funeral songs with residents carrying a coffin with a huge tomato. La Tomatina finally became an official festival after the huge success of the parade.
  • Many countries like Nevada, Costa Rica, Columbia, and Chicago have been re-created this fest. An attempt was re-created by Bangalore, India also, but was met with huge criticism over the ‘wastage of tomatoes’ that eventually led to a ban of the event.
  • What to wear at the festival is also the key. This festival is full of enthusiasm, people want to enjoy it in their own way. The majority of participants wear white just to feel the hue of the tomatoes. But most of the men enjoy wearing their underpants only. On the same side, plenty of people play safe by wearing swimming goggles and snorkeling gear to protect their eyes. 
  • Palo Jabon signifies the starting of the Tomatina festival. A piece of ham is hung on a greasy pole in the town square, and the goal is for people from the crowd to climb the pole and retrieve the ham. People sing encouraging songs to motivate those climbing the pole while some spray the climber with a water hose. As soon as the piece of ham is dropped from the pole, the festival starts.
  • The iconic La Tomatina festival has no proven religious or cultural roots, but wide participation in the food festival has made it a significant part of history. The origin story revolving around La Tomatina is related to an old street brawl expanding into the official festival, now widely celebrated by the Spanish town. As said, all great discoveries are accidental; this festival with tomatoes somewhat lives up to the same.
  • It was the last Wednesday of August in 1945. The story behind the festival is- during a more somber street parade, a street fight broke out when a rowdy local started to pelt everyone with vegetables from the nearby market stall. This small action led to groups doing the same. The fight didn’t stop on the day. The same young people picked a fight on purpose and brought their own tomatoes the following year. Although, in the starting years it was strived to be banned, but the enthusiasm of the food fight lived on. This enthusiasm for the food fight is what keeps the La Tomatina Festival alive.

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