Thousands of people gathered in the Spanish town of Buñol on Wednesday for the annual La Tomatina festival, painting the streets red with tons of overripe tomatoes. Loaded trucks edged through the crowd while people in their cargo beds launched tomatoes at the festivalgoers, who then hurled them at each other. White shirts were rapidly stained pink and red as pop music echoed from surrounding speakers.
At one point, police appeared to use pepper spray to disperse an area of the crowd, but a festive vibe quickly resumed. The messy melee lasts for over an hour in the town, where buildings are covered with tarps ahead of the festivities. Held on the last Wednesday of August, the festival traces its origins to a food fight in 1945.
La Tomatina became an annual tradition before Spanish dictator Gen. Francisco Franco banned it in the 1950s. Televised media attention in the 1980s helped turn the festival into a national event, and eventually, an international attraction.
More than 20,000 people had been expected to take part this year, with the Spanish news agency EFE reporting this week that roughly 40 per cent of participants over the past three years have been tourists from outside Spain. There has been a notable jump in visitors from India in recent years, following the 2011 Bollywood movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (“You Only Live Once”), in which three friends take a road-trip through Spain during an extended bachelor party. The film recreated La Tomatina, introducing the festival to many Indians.
The movie is what first drew Romail Khokhar, a 27-year-old from Mumbai, to Buñol. He was there on Wednesday morning, eager to participate in the food fight for his third time. It's the best festival that I ever had, and I enjoy a lot here,” said Khokhar, who owns a clothing business.
Similar tomato-flinging events have taken place in Florida, London, Amsterdam, the Colombian town of Sutamarchán and Hyderabad, India. Non-local attendees pay 15 euros ($17.50) for a ticket. The first and only rule: Squash your tomatoes before hurling them to avoid injuries.
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