Travel to La Tomatina Festival. Before going to La Tomatina you need to know more about it.
Tomatina History
The tellings of Tomatina Festival history are vague, with interpretations of the festival’s origins ranging from practical jokes between mates, locals throwing fruit and vegetables at poorly performing street artists, to huge riots that escalated during other Spanish festivals in the area.
Let’s get the facts straight… The happenings of Tomatina history were never actually officially recorded (or if they were, they must have been lost in the tomato chaos because no one knows where they are), and all that is left are historian’s interpretations and handed-down tales between family members. Perhaps the most accurate version of its history was during the festival of «Gigantes y Cabezudos», a Giants and Heads festival in which holds of parade of giants wearing costumes complete with grotesque heads (not the strangest festival we’ve heard of in Spain!).
An uncommon party
During this Tomatina festival, it is said some bystanders wanted to join the parade for a practical joke, and in barging through, knocked over one of the giants. This led to a riot between the parade members and bystanders. In the midst of it all, it is said that someone grabbed a tomato from a fruit stand nearby and pelted it into the crowd, beginning a food fight unlike any other.
La Tomatina – The Struggle
This is where the struggle begins… history has not been easy for the now world-renowned and remarkably popular festival. After some young Spanairds with their own tomatoes tried to replicate the food fight again for fun, the event was banned. With the following year’s recreations of the tomato fight resulting in many young people being fined, punished and even imprisoned.
By 1957, 17 years after the first fight, the locals held a festival to celebrate the official funeral of Tomatina, which boasted a large coffin with a big red tomato seated inside it. Upon this festival, the city council realized its popularity and decided to make it officially legal, thus giving us – the wild tomatina festival we see today.
Tomatina Festival is one of the world’s most famous festival featuring Tomato fight, a lot fun to be taking part in tomatina festival, no doubt you will always have fun in Tomatina Festival, but if you want to have a safe and an indelible memory, you have to take the following tips into account:
Travel to La Tomatina Festival: Tips
In case if you are not from Buñol and you are planning to stay overnight for the Tomatina festival, do not forget to look for accommodation in advance. The access to the urban area by car will be closed at 07.00. If you want to access, keep walking and Come early!
Tips:
- In case if you are not from Buñol and you are planning to stay overnight, do not forget to look for accommodation in advance.
- The access to the urban area by car will be closed at 07.00. If you want to access, keep walking and Come early!
- Wear the clothes that you are not going to wear later or old clothes for the Tomatina festival. White suits better!
- Wear shoes with a good grip so that you can throw them out later, just keep them on your feet. Avoid using flip-flops; you can lose them in the Tomatina festival.
- The goggles can be your best friend. Your eyes can be sore because of the tomato acid. But it is a pleasure to see how this tomato acid can clean your skin. Tomato exfoliation!
- Use waterproof cameras in case if you want to click a snap, or just use a protective case.
- Follow the security directions and keep a safe distance of the lorries.
- Do not miss the palo-jabón. A soap-covered pole with a Spanish prosciutto on the top. The person who climbs to the top and get the prosciutto…win the prosciutto!
- And last but not least, enjoy to the max. It is a pleasure to release adrenaline throwing tomatoes in all directions during an hour. Have a happy Tomatina festival experience.
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