Festivals often honor deities, as in India’s Durga Puja, or commemorate a historical event, as in the Battle of Oranges in Italy. Sometimes, it comes out of necessity, as in the Running of the Bulls in Spain. Rarely, it arises out of the simple reason to institutionalize fun, as in La Tomatina, also in Spain.
And what fun La Tomatina can be, when there is no rhyme or reason to pelt each other with tasteless tomatoes and paint the town, literally, ketchup red.
In 2013, the tomato-throwing will take place on August 28.
Crimson Tide Minus the Submarine
Every last Wednesday of August, the streets of Buṅol are awash – rather, inundated – with crimson juice as thousands of participants throng the narrow streets of this plain industrial town 38 kilometers west of Valencia, Spain. It is going to be one massive “unclean” fun as 150,000 tomatoes will fly out of every direction, and leave behind a slushy mess of tomato soup which will make famine social workers raise eyebrows.
But it is this senseless pandemonium – the idea of wading in crimson tide and getting drenched in tomato juice tsunami – that makes the experience appealing to people who are otherwise logical in their professional lives.
The tomato madness starts at 11AM, when a firecracker is lit to signal the start of the fruit fight. Then, one by one, dumper trucks with 40 tons of red ammunition make their way slowly amidst the heaving wall of human bodies that could possibly be packed in four narrow corridors that constitute the La Tomatina circuit. As the trucks discharge their precious cargoes – said to be grown specifically for the festival – revelers scoop out the orbs, squish them (to minimize injury) and start throwing them, pelting them, chucking them, tossing them, catapulting them in every conceivable direction. The chance of standing in the trajectory path is 100%.
This squishy mayhem continues until noon when another rocket is fired to signal the end of the suspension of reason. Then everyone heads to public showers or get free dousing from hoses and buckets provided by the locals, change into immaculate clothes, and hop on public transport smelling of – stinking – La Tomatina, while nursing a hangover on the ride back to the hotel.
Virginal White Shirt, Goggles and Sangria
A true La Tomatina “warrior” wears virginal white shirt to best show the world the festival’s true colors. Men who don’t want to waste a good shirt don’t wear anything at all, except for skimpy “loin cloth” that they prefer to call their fashion of the day.
But whatever their choice of outfits, if at all, revelers make sure that they don’t miss protective eyewear. Goggles and snorkeling masks make appropriate contraptions in the tomato version of Waterworld.
Tomato juice, however, is not the beverage of choice during the festivities. Sangria, a staple in Portugal and Spain, is dispensed by liter-load in large plastic containers well before midday and well into the thick of the action. Beer and wine also make an obvious presence, and are guzzled in equal proportions. Given the quantity of alcohol making rounds, La Tomatina indeed makes for one messy, drunken revelry.
Origins of La Tomatina
One of the many proposed origins for Buṅol tomato-throwing was that it started in 1945 as a spontaneous brawl between young men who were refused entry to a parade and the local law enforcement who tried to break up the fight. Because there were vegetable stands nearby, the brawlers made the most of the tomatoes and started a riotous tradition that proved to be hard to suppress.
In the intervening years, because of the damaged caused by tomato-throwing, the event was held on and off until 1957 when the overwhelming demand for it made La Tomatina official.
Now, the local authorities themselves provide the “ammunition” and bear the brunt of clean-up after the “riot” is over.
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