La Tomatina – An Awesome European Event & it’s American Equivalent!

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It looks like we’ll be headed back to Europe soon and I’ve been doing some research on events we could check out. I immediately remembered one that’s been on my hit list for some time – La Tomatina.

I’ve been wanting to go to this for several years now and I’m sad to say we won’t make it because it takes place this month on Wed, August 31, 2011 and we won’t be in Europe until late Sept/early October. Bummer! In any case it looks like a pretty awesome festival and if you’re in the area there is still enough time for you to check it out.

La Tomatina is a huge event held in Buñol, Spain on the last Wednesday of each August. For exactly one hour people can throw tomatoes at each other in the streets! What started as a brawl between young men in the 1940’s is now a sanctioned event and the city even provides the tomatoes! Besides the absurdity and hilarity of tomatoes being thrown all across town at everyone within eyesight another really funny aspect of this festival is how it begins.

As with all good things, it all starts with a greasy pole & a ham.

A greasy pole is set up with a ham on top. One after the other brave participants try to reach the top of the greasy pole so they can knock the ham off. Once the ham is knocked off, the horn blows and the tomato throwing commences!

This festival is happening in just a few days! So if you can get to Buñol this week you’ll have one heck of a time waiting for you!

However if you’re a US resident or headed to the US this month there’s a chance you can still make it to La Tomatina – Reno Style! Yup, that’s right, the folks in the Biggest Little City (aka Reno, Nevada) were so into the idea of painting the town and residents red they decided a couple years ago to host their own La Tomatina! This event costs $10 to enter but a portion of the funds goes to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Not to mention they haul in 75,000 pounds of tomatoes you can chuck around town.

In pure American fashion you’ll need to sign a waiver to enter this festival even if you’re over 18. Don’t let the red tape get you down though, if I was on the west coast I would definitely head over and partake in this festival. It sounds like a really entertaining way to spend your day!

This event takes place in just a couple days on August 27, 2011 at 5pm. If you’re flying to Spain or Reno from London for either festival, remember that you can always take advantage of airport parking and Gatwick parking at the Gatwick airport for quick, last minute departures!

I have not be able to confirm that the greasy pole and ham will make an appearance at the Reno event.

Travel Tip: Prior to firing tomatoes upon your fellow festival goers remember to squash the tomatoes in your own hands first to prevent injury. Also, goggles are recommended for both festivals. Because both festivals are a photographer’s playground make sure you cover up your camera in a zip lock bag or waterproof casing to prevent tomato juice from ruining your good time!

*All photos in this post are courtesy of Flydime via Flickr. All photos are of the La Tomatina event in Spain.

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*Please remember all photos on this website, unless otherwise noted, are copyrighted and property of Beers and Beans Travel Website, Nariko’ s Nest Weddings & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you do want to use one of them please contact me first because I do love to share and I would be flattered. Thanks!