On Wednesday, August 27th, 2025, thousands flooded the streets of Bunol, Spain. Thousands were joining for the annual La Tomatina festival, which is the biggest food fight of the year. The festival uses over 100 tons of ripe tomatoes to throw at one another.
La Tomatina originated in 1945 on the last Wednesday of August at a local parade when a bunch of youth started a food fight. The fight started during a parade where the musicians made one performer fall, causing a massive ripple effect. The crowd used tomatoes and nearby vegetables from the stands at the parade to throw at them in anger. To keep the tradition going, the same group of people came back the following year and threw tomatoes at one another. This led to an annual event which gained more publicity and participants. The festival was briefly banned during Franco’s dictatorship due to being un-Christian in the early 1950s. The public protested for a return of the festival, and that was granted to them in 1957, and has been an annual tradition since.
The festival has grown so popular that there are limited tickets. The maximum number of tickets is twenty-two thousand, and those sell out every year. The festival begins at eleven in the morning on the last Wednesday of August each month.
When people arrive at the festival, there are 100 tons of tomatoes dumped on the ground. Throughout the next hour, they are picked and thrown at one another until there are none left. The festival ends at twelve when a firework is shot, and tomato throwing must cease.
There is another festival for children aged four to fourteen, so they can participate in the fun as well. Their festival takes place on the Saturday before the adults.
Overall, that first food fight in 1945 created a long-lasting tradition for everyone to enjoy. This tradition turns out to be the biggest food fight ever, and it takes place every year. So don’t waste your chance to buy your tickets now!
