La Tomatina

Learn about La Tomatina, Spain's epic tomato festival! Fun facts and vocabulary for grades 7-9.

¡La fiesta de LA TOMATINA! Today you are going to learn about LA TOMATINA: the world's BIGGEST food fight!Before you read, see if you can match up some of the Spanish and English vocabulary words below. los tomates tomatoes la fiesta party el jamón ham los participantes the participants los bomberos the firemen loco crazy divertido fun rojo red Hundreds Of Tons Of Tomatoes Are Used As Ammo In Spain's Tomatina Festival LA TOMATINA IS: a food fight festival held on the last Wednesday of August each year in the town of Buñol, just west of the city of Valencia in Spain. Thousands upon thousands of people make their way from all corners of the world to fight in this 'World's Biggest Food Fight' where more than one hundred metric tons of over-ripe tomatoes are thrown in the streets.The week-long festival features music, parades, dancing,and fireworks. On the night before the tomato fight, participants of the festival compete in a paella cooking contest. Paella is a rice and seafood dish from Spain.Prior to 2013, anywhere from 40,000 to 50,000 (reported to be 50,000 in 2012) people crammed into this huge tomato fight, greatly expanding Buñol's normal 9,000 person population. Since the 2013 event, official ticketing was put into place limiting the number of participants to just 20,000 lucky people.There is limited accommodation for people who come to La Tomatina, so many people take the easier option of staying in nearby Valencia, just 38km to Buñol by bus or train. In preparation for the dirty mess that will ensue, shopkeepers use huge plastic covers on their storefronts in order to protect them from the carnage.WHAT HAPPENS AT LA TOMATINA: At around 11 am, the first event of the Tomatina begins. Many trucks haul the bounty of tomatoes into the center of the town, Plaza del Pueblo. The tomatoes come from Extremadura, where they are less expensive. These tomatoes are not good enough to eat, so they are not wasting food. Only the bad tomatoes are sold for the festival.Technically the festival does not begin until one brave soul has climbed to the top of a two-story high, greased-up wooden pole and reached the coveted ham at the top. In practice this process takes a long time and the festival starts despite no one reaching the meaty prize. The signal for the beginning of the fight is firing of water cannons, and the chaos begins. Once it begins, the battle is generally every man for himself.Those who partake in this event are strongly encouraged to wear protective safety goggles and gloves. Although it is forbidden to tear someone else's clothing, the crowd tends to ignore this and will rip the shirt of any clothed person.After exactly one hour, the fighting ends when the water cannons are fired once more to signal the end. At this point, no more tomatoes can be thrown. The cleaning process involves the use of fire trucks to spray down the streets. Some people find water at the Buñol River to wash themselves, although some kind residents will hose passers-by down. Once the tomato pulp is flushed, the ground is clean due to the acidity of the tomato.The Tomatina DOES have a few rules1. Do not bring bottles or hard objects as they can cause accidents and hurt other participants.2. Do not rip other people’s T-shirts.3. You must squash the tomatoes before throwing them, as this reduces the impact.4. As soon as you hear the second shot, you must stop throwing tomatoes.How did La Tomatina Start...The Spanish LOVE to eat tomatoes and reportedly eat over 30 pounds per person annually! As with all Mediterranean cuisines, the tomato is an essential ingredient of Spanish cooking. The Spanish eat tomatoes every day and prepare them in a variety of ways, including fresh, crushed, stewed or simmered in a sauce. Tomato sauce is served on the side with fried eggs, chicken, meat and omelets at most Spanish dinner tables.It's not too hard to understand that the very crazy Tomatina festival started by accident. The tomato fight has been a strong tradition in Buñol since 1944 or 1945. According to all accounts, there was a parade and festival in Buñol on the last Wednesday of August of 1945 when a fight broke out between some young men. Taking advantage of a nearby fruit and vegetable vendor’s stall, they threw tomatoes at each other.The following year the young people brought tomatoes with them to the parade and started a tomato fight again. Each year the fight continued until the early 1950’s when it was prohibited by order of the town council, but some townsfolk insisted on creating a fight and were thrown in jail. Protests ensued,including a “Tomato Funeral” and finally, in 1957 the town council allowed the fight to continue. The holiday was banned under the dictator Francisco Franco for having no religious significance, but returned in the 1970s after his demise. Since 1980 the city government has provided the tomatoes!Article source: Watch the video about LA TOMATINA here. Then read the article below. Sort the statement into TRUE (VERDAD) or FALSE (FALSO) based on what you read in the article. The sides are even! Verdad Hay más de 20,000 participantes. Hay reglas para la fiesta. Muchas personas llevan gafas. Hay muchas actividades en la fiesta. No hay muchos hoteles en Buñol. Las personas preparan paella. Falso El pueblo de Buñol es grande. No es necesario limpiar después de la fiesta. La fiesta es en septiembre. Celebran la Tomatina en un viernes. Las personas llevan ropa nueva. Las personas comen jamón. Choose the correct answer to each sentence.Los tomates son _. rojo roja rojos rojas Choose the correct answer to each sentence.El pueblo de Buñol _ en España. está es son estamos Choose the correct answer to each sentence.Los participantes están _. loco loca locos locas What clothes would you wear to the Tomatina? Sort the clothing. Clothing I would wear los pantalones cortos las sandalias los zapatos de tenis las gafas de sol la camiseta el traje de baño Clothing I would NOT wear una bufanda las botas un abrigo una falda un vestido los guantes