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Event Information:
La
Tomatina is a festival that is held
in the Valencian town of Buñol, in
which participants throw tomatoes at
each other. It is held the last
Wednesday in August, during the week
of festivities of Buñol. In 1944,
during a parade of gigantes y
cabezudos, young men who wanted to
participate in the event staged a
brawl. Since there was a vegetable
stand nearby, they picked up
tomatoes and used them as weapons.
The police had to intervene to break
up the fight, and forced those
responsible to pay the damages
incurred.
The following year the young people
repeated the fight, only this time
brought their own tomatoes from
home. They were again dispersed by
the police. After repeating this in
subsequent years, the party was,
albeit unofficially, established. At
around 10am festivities begin with
the first event of the Tomatina. It
is the "palo jabón", similar to the
greasy pole. The goal is to climb a
greased pole with a ham on top. As
this happens, the crowd work into a
frenzy of singing and dancing while
being showered in water from hoses.
Once someone is able to drop the ham
off the pole, the start signal for
the tomato fight is given. The
signal for the onset is at about 11
when a loud shot rings out, and the
chaos begins.
Several trucks throw tomatoes in
abundance in the Plaza del Pueblo.
The tomatoes come from Extremadura,
where they are less expensive and
are grown specifically for the
holidays, being of inferior taste.
For the participants the use of
goggles and gloves are recommended.
The tomatoes must be crushed before
being thrown so as to reduce the
risk of injury.
After
exactly one hour, the fight ends
with the firing of the second shot,
announcing the end. The whole town
square is colored red and rivers of
tomato juice flow freely. Fire
Trucks hose down the streets and
participants use hoses that locals
provide to remove the tomato paste
from their bodies. Some participants
go to the pool of “los peñones” to
wash. After the cleaning, the
village cobblestone streets are
pristine due to the acidity of the
tomato disinfecting and thoroughly
cleaning the surfaces.
Local
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