The annual La Tomatina festival in Buñol, near Valencia, Spain, was held Wednesday with around 22,000 participants from 28 nationalities who threw over 120,000 kilos of locally sourced, inedible tomatoes at each other for an hour.
La Tomatina is the world's largest food fight. The traditional festival started in 1945 as a parade scuffle and has evolved into a popular event, with participants attempting to climb a greased pole with a ham on top before the tomato fight begins and ends with fireworks.
Participants, dressed in white shirts and some wearing goggles, pay 15 euros to join, while locals are exempt from fees. The festival has a budget of 60,000 euros.
The tomato projectiles, squashed to avoid harm, fly for an hour while participants are cooled down by water buckets and hoses, turning the street into a reddish, soupy river during the playful battle.
Local shopkeepers drape huge plastic tarps over storefronts, and a cleaning crew swiftly removes tomato remnants after the event.
La Tomatina was declared of International Tourist Interest in 2002, and the festival now includes a week of festivities with music, dancing, fireworks, and parades. Tickets are limited to 20,000 participants, with safety rules and emergency services deployed.
The festival has become one of Spain's most popular, and international visitors describe it as a unique and fun experience filled with unrestrained joy and positivity.
This article was written in collaboration with Generative AI news company Alchemiq
Sources: BBC, Reuters, Tagesspiegel, El Pais, El Mundo, Gazeta, La Vanguardia.