Yes, we all have some strange customs, but this may take the cake – or the tomato, if you will. Each year in Buñol, Spain, there is a La Tomatina Festival which includes thousands of happy revelers pelting each other with tomatoes. The festival runs for a week during the last week of August, and ends in a crazed, half-hour tomato throwing event on the last Wednesday in August.
20,000 Tomato Strong
This year there were said to be almost 20,000 participants, all chaotically tossing tomatoes at each other and getting into the act. There is a shot that rings out to indicate that the tomato tossing can begin, and another to indicate the end.
The Beginning
One might wonder where such a bizarre tradition began. In 1944, a number of men started throwing tomatoes during the yearly festival. No one knows why, but it started the messy tradition that Buñol enjoys each year now.
Each year, 150,000 tomatoes are used for this wild celebration – which is, in total, over 90,000 pounds of tomatoes!