About La Tomatina
La Tomatina is essentially a giant food fight held in the town of Bunol, just outside of Valencia, every year. People take to the streets on the last Wednesday in August to throw overripe tomatoes at each other.
The festival began in 1945, at the Giants and Big-Heads figures parade. The energy of jovialities caused one participant's Big-head to fall off. He flew into a fit of rage and began hitting everything in his path. There was a market stall of vegetables that fell victim to the fury of the crowd. People started to pelt each other with tomatoes until the local forces ended the fruit battle, and so La Tomatina was conceived.
Approximately 20,000–50,000 tourists come to join in or spectate the tomato fight, multiplying Buñol's normal population of slightly over 9,000 several times. There is limited accommodation for people who come to La Tomatina, and thus many participants stay in Valencia and travel by bus or train to Buñol, about 38 km outside the city.
In preparation for the dirty mess that will ensue, shopkeepers use huge plastic covers on their storefronts in order to protect them. They also use about 150,000kg tomatoes (90,000 pounds).
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