La Tomatina

La Tomatina is a very famous Spanish festival that is celebrated annually. People hurl, squish and throw tomatoes on each other for fun. It's an actual tomato fight that is purely and soulfully for entertainment purposes. But how did all this start?

The beginning:

Back in 1945, some young people went to the town square to attend the Giant and big-heads parade. They wanted to join the parade and joined the musicians. In all the energy and fun, a giant-head fell off a person from the parade. He threw a fit of rage and went around attacking people with tomatoes from a market stall as his weapon. The market stall fell victim to this tomato fight. This fight was eventually stopped by the police.

The next year, some young people pre-planned and stepped into a fight and brought their tomatoes from home. And this began the yearly tradition.

The ban:

After the second incident, la Tomatina was banned for safety purposes. But people saw the fun in it and protested for the ban to be dropped and the festivity started with an increased level of people and enthusiasm. It was cancelled again until the year 1957 when people held a tomato burial as a protest. They kept a huge tomato in a coffin and carried it as a parade. The musicians played sad funeral marches. This protest became successful and the ban was dropped and it became an official festival.

The word spread and the number of participants increased year after year and so did the excitement.

The fight:

The fight lasts for about one hour and then fire trucks his water for people to clean themselves.

Rules:

Yup. There are rules to this festival. No throwing bottles or any hard objects. No tearing or throwing t-shirts. Must squash tomatoes before throwing them and some like that.

Fun and entertaining. Traditions and festivals like this exist too!