Festivals in Spain are unique events, the equivalent of which cannot be found in any other country. The richness of the programs and colorful events attracts tourists from all over Europe. The tomato festival in a provincial town near Valencia means rivers of tomato juice, laughter and an atmosphere of joy. The Tomato Festival in Spain is a must-see for anyone who wants to get a complete picture of the cheerful temperament of the Spaniards.

Features of the Tomato Festival

Tomatina in Spain is an iconic and traditional event where thousands of Buñol residents come together to throw ripe tomatoes at each other.

Every year, when this unusual celebration is celebrated, the provincial town near Valencia, Buñol, is chosen as the venue. The Tomatina Festival takes place in last week August. At the end of summer there is always a big fair, dance shows and musical performances. The doors of all restaurants and cafes are open to tourists, fire shows are held, and in the evenings fireworks thunder in the sky.

La Tomatina starts on the last Monday of August, around 10-11 am.

It is at this time that huge trucks deliver tons of tomatoes to the central part of the city, to the Plaza del Pueblo.

The battle lasts from one to two hours depending on how many participants have gathered. Everyone enjoys throwing tomatoes, and even observers of this action get it. When the carnage ends, fire trucks fire a volley of water into the air - this means that it is time for the participants to lay down their weapons.

At the end, every single one of them is sprayed with water from hoses. Some participants in the action go swimming in the river.

Things after such an event are unlikely to be worn, so wear clothes that you don’t mind parting with.

During the battle, about 10 tons of tomatoes are used, so traces of Tomatina remain everywhere - on walls, shop windows, balconies. Fire trucks drive through the central streets and clear everything around.

After the tomato performance, guests are invited to continue the celebration. The second important element of the celebration is Iberian pork, a traditional Spanish delicacy. Local residents are proud of their treat, and jamon often appears as a prize in various competitions at the tomato festival.

Tomatina: historical background

There are two versions of the origin of the tomato festival in Spain. The first version insists on ancient origin holiday. Once upon a time in the city, a local resident appeared at the market and began to play musical instrument. The sellers did not like the musical performance so much that they began throwing tomatoes from the shelves at the musician. Not only the sellers, but also everyone present joined the protest.

The second version says that the Tomatina holiday is associated with a procession in 1945, where “giants” took part - people who carried figures above them, while they themselves were hidden under clothes. Young people wanted to stand out and began to jostle with the “giants”. One of the figures fell, the man carrying it rose with great difficulty and, apparently, in a rage, began to beat everyone around.

A fight broke out at the vegetable stalls. Tomatoes were used, but only the police were able to stop the tomato battle. On next year The brawlers, not forgetting the insult, started a battle again, but this time they came with their own tomatoes. City authorities soon gave the go-ahead for the event, which was destined to become one of the brightest in the world.

Celebration program

Here is the traditional holiday program.

Stages	Description
First stage	The jamon is suspended from a pole up to 7 meters high. The installed post is generously soaped. Task #1 is to remove the jamon, which marks the beginning of the tomato festival. Removing the jamon can take up to two hours, but there is always a dexterous participant who will be able to do it.
Second phase	At 11 a.m., a firecracker can be heard exploding from the town hall, signaling the start of the tomato battle. Trucks filled to the brim with tomatoes drive into the square. Ardent fans of the holiday, who paid 300 euros, appear in trucks. They are the first to start pelting the crowd.
Third stage	After 2 hours of tomato fighting, the center of Buñol turns into a tomato pool. A second signal is heard for the participants, which means the end of the tomato battles. Fire trucks appear on the streets.

What are the rules for the Tomatina festival?

Year after year, the Tomatina festival becomes more popular, and more and more people flock to Buñol. But during this time, four mandatory rules were formed.

How to get to the La Tomatina festival

First you need to get a visa.

Tickets can be purchased on the official event page. Additional services are also offered - accommodation, transfer, etc. There are agencies that offer special programs for visiting the festival: watching the action from the balcony, a special appearance on a truck, as well as excursions in Valencia and the surrounding area.

Visit tomato festival costs 10 euros. Each ticket is personal, so the organizers check your personal ID at the entrance. Before the event starts, the ticket is exchanged for a personalized bracelet.

There are three options to get to Buñol.

You can stay in Buñol in the guest house Torre de Alborache and the Hotel Condes de Buñol 2* next to the station. It is worth considering that these options are booked a year in advance. Therefore, many festival visitors stay in Valencia hotels near the train station.

Conclusion

In 2019, the Tomato Festival in Spain falls on August 30th. By tradition, competitions, entertainment shows, competitions, treats with jamon and sparkling wine, and a fireworks show are planned.

Traditions in Spain are always original, unusual and with a delightful lack of common sense, so it’s worth visiting Tomatina at least once in your life. Participation in the battle of tomatoes is not necessary, because you can just come to the fair and taste everything you like.

La Tomatina Festival: Spain: Video

1. Tomatina

2. Description and rules.

3. History

4. Drop of tar

.Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

In modern society there are few holidays left that would unite different segments of the population, unite them in a single impulse, the form of which is unconventional and relatively stable over the decades. Urbanization, rational worldview (and materialism as one of its forms) and, at the last stage, mass culture dealt crushing blows to ritual as a script human life, and Tomatina is one of those holidays that has retained certain features of the ritual.

The meaning and significance of the holiday have not yet been forgotten by modern people, but have already firmly settled in the minds and hearts of the inhabitants of a small town. It seemed interesting to us to consider this particular holiday in this regard, since the unusual formation and traditions of this holiday attract and intrigue.

Two parts of this work will be devoted to these two aspects.

The purpose of this work was to describe the emergence, formation and development of the Tomatina holiday, its roots and prerequisites for its occurrence.

In accordance with the goal, the following tasks were set:

· description of the history of the holiday

· revealing the origins of the holiday

· explanation of celebration traditions.

The object of the study was the reasons and prerequisites for the official celebration of Tomatina and the problematic aspects of the holiday.

Tomatina

No, this is not a sea of ​​blood or a photo report promoting the sin of slaughter. Meet Tomatina, one of the most popular and visited Spanish holidays, known throughout the world. Do you want to get hit in the forehead with a ripe tomato? Dive into a puddle of tomato juice? Have fun swimming in different styles in the blood-red river? So, this fiesta is for you, don’t miss it - every last Wednesday in August, tons of tomatoes and tomato lovers from all over the world are waiting to meet you.

La Tomatina (Spanish: La Tomatina) is an annual festival held in the last week of August in the Spanish city of Buñol, autonomous community of Valencia. Tens of thousands of participants come from different countries to participate in a battle in which overripe tomatoes serve as “weapons”.

The festival lasts a week and includes musical performances, a parade, dancing and fireworks. The night before the tomato fight, a paella cooking competition is held. The population of Buñol is 9 thousand people, but up to 40 thousand tourists come here during the festival. There is not enough accommodation for all the tourists in Buñol, so many participants arrive by train or bus from Valencia, which is 38 km away (which, given the amount of alcohol consumed at the festival, cannot be considered a particularly good idea). In preparation for the festival, shopkeepers are covering the windows of their establishments with large plastic shields to protect them from the upcoming madness, which will use more than 100 tons of tomatoes.

Description and rules.

The first events of La Tomatina begin at 10 am. Many trucks loaded with tomatoes enter the central square of the city, Plaza del Pueblo. The tomatoes are brought from the neighboring Autonomous Community of Extremadura, where they are cheaper.

According to the rules, the festival begins only after someone climbs a wooden pole 2 floors high, previously greased with soap. A piece of meat awaits the daredevil at the top of the pillar. The signal for the start of the battle is a shot from water cannons.

During the battle, each participant is for himself. The rules require:

You cannot bring bottles or any objects that could cause an accident.

You cannot tear the T-shirts of festival participants.

Before throwing a tomato, you should crush it to avoid injuring anyone.

You should be careful and give way to trucks delivering tomatoes.

After the second signal, you should immediately stop throwing tomatoes.

One should not think that people come from all over the world for the sole purpose of throwing tomatoes at each other with all their hearts. The holiday lasts a whole week and its program, in addition to the 12-hour tomato massacre, also includes performances by numerous musical groups, dancing, fireworks and other events.

The chaos lasts exactly an hour, after which the water cannons fire a second salvo, signaling the end of the battle. After this point, you can no longer throw tomatoes. After the battle, the walls of the surrounding houses turn red, and the tomato slurry on the pavement reaches your ankles. During the cleaning process, fire trucks wash away the remaining tomatoes with water supplied from a Roman aqueduct running north of the city. Participants wash themselves in the river or are hosed down by local residents.

Story

The festival is held in honor of the city's patron Saint Louis Bertràn and Our Lady of the Protector (Mare de Déu dels Desemparats).

There are several versions of the origin of the Tomatina festival, in which participants throw tomatoes at each other. Some natives of the Spanish town of Bunol claim that it is all to blame for a company that once gathered in the square for lunch and pelted a late friend with tomatoes. Others are sure that the tradition originates from the fun of street boys who threw tomatoes at their rich peers.

According to one version, it is believed that this funny war began with one crude joke. Once, in the middle of the last century, a musician without hearing or a voice was walking down the street, singing something, accompanying himself on a musical instrument. The performance was so bad that a certain mischief maker threw a tomato at the minstrel. The others readily supported him, destroying several street vegetable stalls. All this escalated into a small massacre, after which the perpetrators were forced to pay compensation.

According to another version, which looks more reliable, Tomatina originated in 1945 year during a local carnival parade with the participation of large big-headed dolls - “Gigantes y Cabezudos”. Allegedly, a group of young people wanted to join the orchestra leading the procession, while one of the “giants” was roughly pushed and he fell. The offended person got into a fight, which very quickly grew into a general dump. Nearby, a vegetable stall with tomatoes happened very conveniently, and they were used as projectiles. In the midst of a violent battle, the police arrived, who stopped the fun and punished the instigators.
However, the next year the same thing happened again. This time, the instigators of the battle brought tomatoes with them so that they would not have to pay for damaged goods.

Be that as it may, tens of thousands of fans of the crazy entertainment of the tomato battle have been coming to Buñol for 70 years in a row in August.

Since then, every year more and more people took part in the festival, and Tomatina became known in other places. Year after year, the entertainment began to go further and further, the participants were no longer limited to just throwing tomatoes at each other, but also began to douse themselves with water, throw “enemies” into fountains, and also attack people who did not participate in the massacre, but only watched happening. Naturally, very influential people were often among the injured spectators. Once again, city authorities banned Tomatina and threatened violators with heavy fines and even imprisonment. The townspeople were so upset that 1957 In the year Tomatina could not be held, a crowded demonstration was organized, which was called the “Funeral of the Tomato.”

They buried a huge fake tomato, and according to all the rules - with funeral marches, a coffin and mourners. In the center of the procession was a group of young men carrying a coffin with a huge tomato, and the procession was led by an orchestra playing funeral marches. As a result, under the pressure of upset citizens, the city municipality gave in and gave the go-ahead for the resumption of the holiday, subject to compliance with the rules.

Beginning with 1959 year, under pressure from the townspeople, the municipality again allowed the holding of the tomato fiesta, but with the obligatory observance of certain rules, one of which was, for example, the beginning and end of the holiday by a special signal. It was strictly forbidden to throw tomatoes before the starting signal and after the finishing signal.

Another key date in the history of Tomatina is 1975 year, starting from which the holiday was patronized by the monks of the Order of St. Louis Bertrand, the patron saint of Buñol, who began to supply tomatoes for the holiday (before that, the townspeople brought tomatoes from home). Since 1980, the municipality of the city took over the organization and supply of the holiday, and every year the number of tons of scattered tomatoes and the number of participants in the massacre began to increase, who began to come to Buñol from all over the planet. Surprisingly, the huge and increasing number of Tomatina participants has not yet given rise to a single serious incident.

WITH 1980 year, tomatoes for the holiday are supplied by the city authorities, and in 2002 In 2009, the Central Tourism Bureau awarded the festival in Buñol international status.

Regular participants and admirers of Tomatina should be grateful to the townspeople of Buñol, who in those distant years fought against the inertia of the authorities and, with their perseverance and love of life, ensured that the fiesta has survived to this day in the form it is: a cheerful, unforgettable, crowded folk holiday.

A drop of tar

It is difficult to imagine what would have to happen for any traditional fiesta to be canceled in Spain, especially if it has been given any official status. A fiesta of international tourist interest is the highest status of a holiday. It has such well-known events outside of Spain as the famous running of the bulls in Pamplona as part of Sanfermines, kayaking on the Sella River in Asturias and the Valencian Fallas.

La Tomatina is a Spanish holiday held in the town of Buñol. 40,000 people with different corners planets are coming to the 9,000-person suburb of Valencia to properly deal with each other. The consequences of these battles are impressive - the walls of the houses in the main square are red. But not from blood, but from 100 tons of specially brought tomatoes. The tomato is the main weapon at this festival. It's hard to say what's more interesting - the battle with tomatoes itself, or the history of this holiday.

Today in the world there is a lot of various types people's battles. We have already talked about, and. But if those battles are flash mobs, then the tomato fight in Spain is the favorite aftermath of a youth brawl.

After all, the history of the La Tomatina festival says that back in 1945, a major brawl broke out at the city market, during which its participants used original weapons - tomatoes from traders’ stalls. The police quickly stopped the fight. However, the participants in the battle longed for revenge. It took place exactly a year later - August 27, 1946. This time the fighters brought tomatoes from home so as not to ruin the traders. Once again the battle was stopped by the police. In subsequent years, the battle was rather between the people and the authorities. The former fell in love with the tradition of throwing ripe tomatoes at each other, the latter tried to prevent the so-called riots.

The authorities of Buñol surrendered in 1950, when the largest tomato battle took place. However, a year later, law enforcement agencies again detained the most violent tomato throwers, some of them were even arrested. The people stood up for those people. Under pressure from city residents, the detainees were quickly released. And then Tomatina received the status official holiday. True, not for long. People began to learn about the holiday in other cities. The scale of tomato battles grew - peaceful passers-by, including influential people, were thrown with tomatoes. Participants also threw each other into fountains and doused themselves with water. And again the municipality intervened, banning the festival. Upset residents responded to the authorities with a sad but very funny mass action - “Funeral of the Tomato.” A group of young men carried a coffin through the city, which contained a huge tomato. The authorities allowed Tomatin again. True, not without certain regulations - the battle with tomatoes began and stopped at a signal.

In 1975, city rulers began organizing the holiday. Tomatoes began to be supplied from the neighboring Autonomous Community of Extremadura, where the price of tomatoes is quite low. Every year more and more tomatoes were brought. Nowadays, tomatoes are transported by trucks; the total weight of vegetables is more than 100 tons. The consequences of Tomatina have to be eliminated by fire trucks, which have difficulty clearing the streets of tomato madness.

The holiday takes place at the end of August and lasts a whole week. In addition to the tomato battles themselves, the festival program includes dancing, fairs, and fireworks. On the days of Tomatina, shop assistants in the main square of the city protect the windows of their establishments with large plastic shields. The rules of Tomatina are simple to the extreme - it is forbidden to bring or use glass bottles, before throwing a tomato it should be crushed so as not to injure a person, and also to start and end the battle on a signal.

“Tomato battles” are held in different cities around the world. The most popular holiday was called “Tomatina”. How does the Tomatina festival take place, when is it celebrated, what is its history and traditions? We will talk about this today.

The Tomatino festival has been celebrated in Spain since 1945. Where exactly does Tomatina take place? It is traditionally held in the city of Buñol.

When is the Tomatina Festival in 2020?

When is the holiday celebrated? The festival, which is called La Tomatina, is traditionally held in the last week of August. Typically, the events of this holiday unfold starting on Wednesday of this week, which in 2020 falls on August 26.

History of the holiday Tomatino

We will tell you about the history and traditions of the Tomatino holiday in Spain. The first battle took place on one of summer holidays. The police arrived in time and dispersed the fighters and forced them to pay for the spoiled vegetables, but a year later these people gathered again. In 1957, the authorities banned the holiday, but the ban was later lifted.

How is Tomatina celebrated?

How is the celebration going? The day before, shop owners cover the windows of their establishments with large plastic shields to ensure their protection. The night before the tomato fight, a paella cooking competition is held.

In the morning, trucks bring tomatoes to the central square. The signal for the start of the battle is a shot from water cannons. The tomato fight lasts exactly one hour. According to the rules, tomatoes must be crushed before throwing to avoid injury. Tomato battles end with a swim in a pool filled with tomato juice.

The program of events of the Tomatina festival includes not only tomato battles, but also musical performances and dances. The festival ends with fireworks.

Up to 40 thousand people take part in it; up to 145 tons of tomatoes are used during the holiday. To replenish the treasury and limit the number of participants, who are often injured during the battle, the city authorities introduced an entrance fee of 10 euros and other fees.

In 2002, the Central Bureau of Tourism awarded the Buñol festival international status.

Tomato fights also take place in Chile. After teenagers staged a tomato battle in the small town of Quillon in 2011, local authorities began organizing such a festival every year.

Not only local residents, but also tourists take part in the festival. Fight participants are sure that this is a great way to get rid of stress.

And in 2014, “tomato battles” took place in Beijing. In one of the districts of the city of Chaoyang, where many entertainment establishments are located, a fight took place, the participants of which threw tomatoes at each other. About a thousand people took part in the battle, using 10 tons of tomatoes; the battle lasted 6 hours.

The tomato battle begins

Every year, on the last Wednesday of August, the small town of Buñol (Valencia) hosts the famous street festival - La Tomatina. This famous tomato battle attracts almost 150,000 participants, and about 100 tons of tomatoes are purchased as weapons.
The main events take place in the central square of the city - Plaza del Pueblo. This is where trucks deliver huge boxes of tomatoes. The signal for battle is considered to be a shot from water cannons, after which the city turns into a real blood-red mess. The central square and adjacent streets are covered with tomato slurry like a carpet, the level of which reaches 10 cm, it even floods the first floors of buildings. During a vegetable battle, it is forbidden to throw whole tomatoes to prevent injury: they must first be crushed.

Tomatina

A second salvo of water cannons signals the end of the battle and the beginning of a general cleansing. Local residents spray festival guests directly with hoses, and firefighters and municipal services clean up streets and houses.

?

There is another tradition in Buñol called the “Soap Pole”: to start the celebrations, you need to get a huge ham of jamon tied to a pole in the main square of the city. And everything would be fine, but the pole is first lubricated with soap, so those who want to distinguish themselves will have to try hard to achieve their goal.
The first Tomatina festival arose by accident in 1945, when, during a traditional city festival, a group of young people started a fight that spread across the entire street. There was a vegetable market nearby, so the participants in the conflict used the tomatoes stored there as ammunition for the battle.

Soon the police managed to take control of the ongoing unrest, but the participants in the fight enjoyed throwing tomatoes so much that they decided to definitely repeat this battle next year, however, they promised that it would be fun for all the townspeople. Since the 1980s, Tomatina received official status and even became a tourist symbol of Valencia.
The festival is so popular that it has been given the title of an international event, and recently entry to the festival has been paid. The organizers even limited the number of participants (20,000 people) due to the impossibility of accommodating everyone on the streets of Buñol. For a fairly high fee (more than 700 euros), you can purchase a place in the tomato truck to start the battle.

Here are a few useful tips for those who are planning to take part in the famous festival:
– wear clothes that you won’t mind throwing away. The same goes for shoes: most likely, they will be irreparably damaged. It is best to wear shoes with laces or clasps, but it is better to avoid flip flops.
– don’t forget swimming goggles: they will save you from eye injuries, unexpected bruises and tomato juice, which contains acid, which causes a very painful reaction.

– it is necessary to take care of the protection of photo and video equipment: it is better to use a waterproof camera or at least put a special protective case on the camera.