Those squeeze-bottle ketchup battles you and your siblings had when you were kids can’t hold a candle to what’s going on today in Buñol, Spain. That’s where tens of thousands of ostensibly sane folks are pounding away at one another with overly-ripe tomatoes. It’s time for La Tomatina 2012, and the dominant color is red.
The self-proclaimed “World’s Biggest Food Fight” is traditionally held the last Wednesday of August. The mushy melee gets underway about 11 a.m. local time when they fire the water cannon. It’s not like they’re teams, it’s more every man and woman for him or herself.
Officials urge tomato tossers to don protective safety goggles and gloves. They’re also supposed to squish the reddish fruit (remember, it is a fruit) before launching it. They’re not supposed to hurt anybody, just ripen their outlook on life. The whole thing comes to a sticky, slightly acidic ending when the water cannon are fired yet again.
It goes without saying that you’re going to want to ditch virtually everything you wear after attending La Tomatina, so it pays to pick out the grubbiest, grungiest clothing possible. The same applies to footwear. Here’s another tip: take along a small plastic bag and stock it with some wet wipes and eye drops that you can use lest those goggles leak.
Local shopkeepers prepare for La Tomatina by swathing their shops with large plastic shrouds. Things can get a tad intense sometimes. This is not an event you want to take your kids to.
While it’s too late to make the food fight this year, if you’re in Europe this time next year you might want to consider booking passage to nearby Valencia. It’s just 38km west of Buñol. There’s good air connectivity to Valencia from a number of European hubs, including London.
(Image: Wikimedia Commons)
