The streets in Buñol, Spain, were painted red Wednesday for the annual “Tomatina” festival, where participants threw overripe tomatoes at each other by the thousands.
Thousands swarmed the streets of Buñol, Spain, for a massive food fight festival known as “La Tomatina.” pic.twitter.com/2OsQWitnvH
— CNN International (@cnni) September 1, 2023
Workers dumped 120 tons of tomatoes onto the streets for folks to hurl at each other in celebration, the Associated Press reported.
The legendary tomato battle reportedly originated in 1945, when a food fight between children in the tomato-producing region inspired a messy tradition, according to the AP.
During a town parade in 1945, “a few youngsters made one of the participants fall, hitting everything that got in his way. The crowd became angry and began throwing tomatoes that they found on a nearby vegetable stand,” and thus a tradition was born, according to the festival’s website.
Though the act of throwing the tomatoes was briefly banned in the 1950s, it was brought back by popular demand for good in 1957, according to organizers.
Now, the town holds the event on the last Wednesday of every August, in what is largely considered to be the world’s biggest food fight, according to CNN. (RELATED: Woman Arrested And Charged With Throwing Wine At Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, Police Say)
Participants from around the globe, some donning goggles and wetsuits, flock to Buñol to launch mushy tomatoes at friends and foes alike. The climax of the culinary war occurs around noon local time, and at its finish festival-goers are watered down by firehoses, which are also used to clean the town up afterwards, per the AP.
The small town of Buñol is near-idyllic, hosting just around 9000 residents alongside the Buñol River. The Valencia suburb comes alive for the festival.