It's Tomatina time!
Yes, it's that time of the year again... Tomatina time! Every year in August one Spanish city gears up to celebrate the end of summer by throwing tomatoes at each other. If you thought you liked tomatoes before, you may want to think again after you've been drenched in tomato juice, bruised by flinging fruits and trampled by equally tomato-covered people!
La Tomatina isn't for the weak, it's a total battle! Only the strong survive...
Okay, I admit that's a little dramatic. It obviously must be loads of fun if the tradition attracts thousands from all over the world and Europe to participate in the biggest food fight in Spain. The village, Bunyol in the Valencian province, is usually a small and idyllic place in the countryside. When the end of summer nears however, the population of the place explodes, literally quadruples in one day. At 11am on August 31st the battle begins.
30,000 people huck as many tomatoes as they can in a few hour period. Tomato canons launch hundreds of fresh and plump fruits into the sky and the streets explode in a boisterous commotion. It's totally wild! It's literally every man for himself in this fight.
Rules of the game
If you want to participate, there are a few rules you need to know about. First, it is very important that you squish your tomatoe before throwing it. This is essentially to NOT injure other participants. If you've ever had a full tomato flung at you, you'll know they can actually hurt!
There are a whopping 125,000 kilos worth of tomatoes to throw, so you shouldn't worry too much about running out of juicy red fruits to throw. The throwing lasts 2 hours.
You may also be wondering how this enormous famous food fight started?
Well it started any way you might expect, with a food fight. In 1945 a couple of locals got a little carried away at a restaurant food fight and before you knew it, it became a village tradition. What... you thought it was an ode to the patron Saint of tomatoes?
Now, that's just silly!
Image: flydime / Flickr cc.