Spain's Annual "Tomatina"
The Olympics may be over but that doesn't mean that more than 30,000 sports-minded people are not on their way to Spain for the annual "Tomatina". Perhaps not as impressive as the opening ceremonies but a whole lotta fun, this is literally the world's largest food fight. In fact, it seems to get bigger every year. Just this week the streets seemed to be turned into veritable rivers of tomato puree. Enjoy the pics!
Battling it out at the "Tomatina".
The "Tomatina" is held annually on the last Wednesday in August in the down of Bunol in the Valencia region of Spain.
Swim a few tomato laps anyone?
It is thought that the tradition began in 1945 when a fight broke out between two young men attending a carnival. Oh those carnival people! A vegetable stall was nearby in the town square, the legend goes, and everyone began throwing tomatos at each other. It was broken up by the police but exactly one year later young people met at the square with their own supply of tomatos. Again, the festivities began but were broken up by police.
The time-honored international food fight continues.
By 1959 the authorities gave in to popular demand granting the food fight official recognition as long as the start and end times of one hour, demarked by a pistol blast, are strictly adhered to. Now, each year young people flock to Spain from all over the world as 240,000 pounds of tomatos are unleased in sixty minutes of a splattering, red, wet fury. Bring your goggles!
I'd love to know what it costs them to clean all this up.
Collapsing after the battle.
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