Seeing red in Buñol

by Veronica Shine

Want to participate in the world's greatest food fight? Tomorrow, Buñol, Spain sees red again in La Tomatina (the throwing of the tomatoes). Every year, on the last Wednesday in August, the Valencia town gets ready for battle. Over 40,000 warriors from all over the world invade this small sleepy bourg of 9,000 to participate. And the number of battlers increases every year.

One of the most fun festivals in the world, it is said to have started 61 years ago when a few friends stumbled upon a crate of over-ripe tomatoes and started throwing them at each other on Buñol´s Plaza del Pueblo. Soon bystanders were drawn into the battle and a new Spanish festival was born.

Squash the tomato first

This year's fight starts at 11 a.m. sharp with the launching of a rocket. The rules are simple: Squash a ripe tomato in your hand (you could hurt someone otherwise) and throw it at other participants. Buildings are covered in plastic to protect the facades from turning as red as the fruits themselves. After one hour of combat, the town is washed down and restored to its normal tranquil self, leaving the drenched warriors to retreat until the following year.

Buñol is approximately 24 miles from Valencia and is accessible by bus or regional train (RENFE) service directly from Valencia. A bus service is available for the event from several coastal towns on the Med including Barcelona, Valencia, Denia, and Alicante. Tickets can be purchased directly online and via the Tomatino's official website:  www.tomatina.es (in Spanish, English, and French).

If you want to join in, be sure to make your hotel reservations well in advance as  the festival gets more popular each year. If accommodation in Buñol is booked out, I suggest you try Valencia instead. The Melia Corp. chain (www.solmelia.com) has several hotels there; the NH chain (www.nh-hotels.com) has eight; and there's the Hesperia (www.hesperia.com). Needless to say, wear old clothes and sandals-I don't think any laundry detergent on earth would ever get the stains out.

[Editor's note: For other wacky or weird events around the world, with or without tomatoes, your best source is our brand new Festivals Report, listing some of the most unusual activities mankind has organized. Click here to learn more.]