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Watch: Tomato, food fights but goggles must at Spain's La Tomatina festival
Spain La Tomatina Festival: La Tomatina begins when a truck containing tomatoes rolls into the Plaza del Pueblo around 11am.
Revellers played in tomato pulp during the annual food fight festival La Tomatina in Spain as the tomato-throwing festival took place in the village of Buñol, near Valencia in Spain. The event takes place on the last Wednesday of August each year and this year the festival is celebrating it’s 76th anniversary. Thousands of people from all over the world gather to take part in the festival where people throw overripe and low-quality tomatoes at each other. People wear goggles to help protect their eyes from the pulp.
What happens at La Tomatina festival?
La Tomatina begins when a truck containing tomatoes rolls into the Plaza del Pueblo around 11am. After this, the festival is supposed to start when someone climbs to the top of a two-story high wooden pole to grab some ham at the top. Often the food fight starts before when the water cannons start spraying. After one hour of tomato-fighting, no more tomatoes can be thrown and the cleaning begins which involves using fire engines to spray down the streets. Locals use brushes to clear the tomato pulp off houses and streets.
Workers on trucks tip around 120 tons of tomatoes for participants to throw. Tickets for the festival start at 12 euros (USD 13). The party is ranked by Spain as an international tourism attraction.
