La Tomatina Festival

La Tomatina is like a snowball fight but with tomatoes. It is held in Valencia in the town of Buñol in eastern Spain. The purpose is to have fun and throw tomatoes at people.

The origin of La Tomatina is not clear. Experts believe it started in 1945 when local people attacked a local councilman with tomatoes. Since then the festival has been held every last Wednesday of August.

La Tomatina takes nearly an hour. There are trucks full of tomatoes and participants take them and throw them at each other. These trucks also have fire hoses, which are used to clean the participant's bodies. Thanks to the acidity of tomatoes, the streets of Buñol after the festival are left cleaner.

The purpose of La Tomatina is to have fun. However, the council set rules for participants. These rules are: Tomatoes must be squashed before the festival; nothing can be thrown except for tomatoes; there must be enough space for tomato trucks to pass; and when the fight is over, it is forbidden to throw tomatoes. All these rules are there to keep the participants safe.