Every year on the last Wednesday of August, thousands of people flock over to the small town of Bunol in Spain to enjoy the world’s largest food fight. Bunol lies in the province of Valencia and is notorious for its annual Tomatina Festival. The town’s economy thrives partly due to its mass production of tasty tomatoes, which once a year are worn rather than eaten.

The Tomatina Festival pays homage to Bunol’s patron saint, Luis Bertran and the ‘Mother God of the Defenceless’, a designation given to the Virgin Mary. La Tomatina is believed to have originated from a random fight that erupted in 1945 between some of the local boys in the town. Being in the market, the closest thing at hand for one of the lads was a tomato, which was then thrown, initiating a large food fight in the square. Residents in the town tried to start a food fight the following year on the same day, but were stopped by the local constabulary. Interest in the large scale food fight grew over the years, and became officially recognised in 1959.  During the reign of dictator Fransisco Franco the holiday was banned, but it soon sprang up again after his death in 1975 and has been growing in popularity ever since. The one day fiesta has grown so much in recent years that the holiday now takes place over an entire seven days with the tomato fight as the culmination at the end of the week.

During La Tomatina, the town of Bunol is alive with festivities and celebrations. The streets are filled with food and drink stalls, and revellers enjoy music and dance. Colourful parades and processions march down the streets, and the residents dress up in traditional costumes. Fireworks light up the night sky and street performers wander the streets. The entire town of Bunol becomes one big celebration during the Tomato Festival, with visitors and locals enjoying the fun.

The batalla or battle takes place on the Wednesday at the end of the week long celebration. It begins with a race up a slippery pole to retrieve a ham joint which sits on the top. The pole is almost two stories high and is well greased prior to the contest, making it an amusing site to behold. The ham being cut down from the pole is the signal for the Tomato battle to begin. Trucks crammed with tomatoes drive down the town and throw over-ripe tomatoes on the watchers. The streets turn into a river of red tomato juice with over one hundred metric tons of fruit thrown into the streets.