Food fight!

September 9, 2005 10:10 AM

La Tomatina!Every year, on the last Wednesday in August, the world's biggest food fight takes place at the Plaza Del Pueblo in the small town of Buñol in Spain. In 2005, the streets ran red with juice of 25 tons of tomatoes.
posted by Gamblor (13 comments total)

It's a refreshing change to see streets running red somewhere with something other than blood...
posted by tbonicus at 10:24 AM on September 9, 2005

Those 25 tons could feed lots of starving people...
posted by rbf1138 at 10:39 AM on September 9, 2005

So could the blood of the innocent, but we're not going THERE are we?
posted by blue_beetle at 10:42 AM on September 9, 2005

One one hand, cultures need their cathartic rituals to blow off steam and reaffirm social ties. One the other hand, this one in particular seems rather wasteful and devoid of meaning (other than, "Yay! Tomatoes!")
posted by ToasT at 11:14 AM on September 9, 2005

I can't recommend this event enough. I went in 2003 and it was positively amazing. it's like the beginning of Saving Private Ryan but with tomatoes. I was groggy for about a day and a half afterwards. The facial bruising went away after about four days, right around the same time as the smell.
posted by redteam at 11:18 AM on September 9, 2005

I remember when they did this as one of the final missions on Road Rules Europe. : )
posted by SisterHavana at 11:31 AM on September 9, 2005

2002
posted by caddis at 11:33 AM on September 9, 2005

Son of a...I searched for "Tomatina", "Buñol", and several other terms. In my defense, they did mispell the name of the town in that one.
posted by Gamblor at 11:38 AM on September 9, 2005

From a Tomatina Travel agency website:

Tomatina Tours arranges itinerary for groups of people from all over the world to travel to Spain, and experience the Craziest Festival in the World! La Tomatina! In addition, we make a stop in Ibiza, the World's #1 Party Place, where you'll experience Foam Parties, The World's largest (14,000 person!) Dance Club, and The Birthplace of Techno & the phrase "Party Like a Rock Star!"

I'll pass, thank you.
posted by NationalKato at 11:48 AM on September 9, 2005

...and The Birthplace of Techno...

Tomatina Tours makes a stop in Detroit via Spain?
posted by tpl1212 at 12:12 PM on September 9, 2005

North and South America by themselves produce way more than enough food to feed everyone in the world. Widespread hunger is not due to tomato fights. rbf1138, don't be a jerk.

I wanna go next year. :)
posted by es_de_bah at 12:36 PM on September 9, 2005

Widespread hunger is not due to tomato fights.

Yeah, but just to be safe, shouldn't they use only rotten tomatoes?
posted by StickyCarpet at 2:00 PM on September 9, 2005

the phrase "Party Like a Rock Star!"

Is this a phrase? No one told me! Seems pretty general, though, those clever, clever people might want to copyright it asap.

BTW, I remember reading about this tomato festival, and lots of tourists were interviewed before and after the tomato fight. Before, all were pumped and primed. After, all weren't so happy, and sounded somewhat like combat vets. Many of them vowed never to do it again, and almost all said just the thought of the smell of tomato would make them sick.
posted by zardoz at 7:13 PM on September 9, 2005