Tomatina - the worlds biggest food fight

I have a list of things I plan on doing before I die. The list includes things like going to the Hantam Vleisfees, dating a rational woman, having a country named after myself and going to La Tomatina. La Tomatina is the ‘World’s Biggest Food Fight’ held annually in the Valencian town of Bunol in which participants throw tomatoes and get involved in this tomato fight purely for fun. It is held on the last Wednesday of August, during the week of festivities of Buñol. Every year approximately 40,000 tomato enthusiasts make their way from all corners of the world to fight with tomatoes during this festival.

Rules of the festival

The city council follows a short list of instructions for the safety of the participants and the festival:

1. The tomatoes have to be squashed before throwing to avoid injuries.
2. No other projectiles except tomatoes are allowed.
3. Participants have to give way to the truck and lorries.
4. The festival doesn't allow ripping off T-shirts.
5. After the second shot indicative of ending the tomato hurl, no tomatoes should be thrown.

At around 10 AM, 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 by firing the water shot in the air and trucks make their entry. 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. Thetomatoes must be crushed before being thrown so as to reduce the risk of injury. The estimated number of tomatoes used are around 150,000 i.e. over 40 metric tons.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 “lospeñones” to wash. After the cleaning, the village cobblestone streets are pristine due to the acidity of the tomato disinfecting and thoroughly cleaning the surfaces.