Hour long
tomato fight that occurs every fourth Wednesday in August in the town of
Buñol on the eastern coast of
Spain.
Thousands of pounds of tomatoes are trucked into the town center and handed to the festival crowd. About 30,000 people participate.
La Tomatina is believed to have originated in 1944 after two Buñol men got into a fight over who would get the honor of carrying a relic in a religious procession. In the scuffle, a fruit stand was knocked down and the tomato fight began. Each year since then a growing number of people, mostly teens and twentysomethings, gather to memorialize this trivial event.
Townspeople usually cover their home exteriors with plastic, while participants wear old clothes and googles. The tomatoes are squeezed first so as not to cause injury on impact. At the end of the fight fire trucks hose down the mess. The day ends with a parade and fireworks.