Ker-splat! There it goes

It has been my custom to land up in Buñol, in the east of Spain to participate in the La Tomatina. Why? Because it’s a tomato fight and it’s kind of fun to be throwing tomatoes at one another.

My first was a couple of years ago, when I was just taking a casual saunter and was hit by a flying tomato! You don’t cut an indignant figure with tomato running down your face, so when I did try to raise my voice I was laughed at and was just in time to dodge a rather rotten looking red flying my way.

But, by the end of the day, I was a convert and a huge fan of La Tomatina.

The festival began in August 1945, when some young people spent time in the town square attending the Giants and Big-Heads figures parade and decided to be a part of the parade. But, they were so energised that one participant fell off. He got angry and in a fit of rage, began to throw anything and everything he could lay his hands on. For his luck, he found a vegetable stall in the market. He picked up some tomatoes and began pelting people with it. Of course, people retaliated. And yes, soon it was a full fledged flight.

The next year, youngsters decided to quarrel and brought their own tomatoes. Though the police broke it up, they had made history. With every passing year, more and more people joined in. In the early 1950s, La Tomatina was banned. In 1957, when the festival was cancelled, the participants held a tomato burial. They carried a coffin with a huge tomato inside. The parade was accompanied by a band which played funeral marches. Everyone loved it.

Finally, La Tomatina became an official festival. And, with every passing year it became bigger and better, until finally it was declared Festivity of International Tourist Interest by the Secretary Department of Tourism.

The fight lasts an hour and at the end of it, the town square is covered with tomato. Fire trucks then hose down the streets and participants use hoses that locals provide to remove the tomatoes from themselves.

The festival is so popular that everyone and anyone wants to be a part of it. So, in 2013, authorities began to issue tickets.

And now, there are even rules to play the game. Simple ones though, like, don’t throw bottles or hard objects, don’t tear or throw t-shirts, squash the tomato before you throw it so that you don’t hurt anyone... Oops, there are a couple more, but I have to run. The game is on.