Are you planning to go to the tomato festival in Buñol in the region Valencia? In 2019 La Tomatina takes place on Wednesday 28 August. On this page you can find a lot of information about La Tomatina.
Buñol
Have you ever heard of Buñol? Probably not. This village is situated 40 kilometers outside the region capital Valencia in the “Communidad de Valencia” (region Valencia). In the year 2009 Buñol had around 10.000 inhabitants. In the surroundings of Buñol you will mainly find agriculture. You may not have heard of Buñol, but you probably have heard annual tomato fight in Spain, La Tomatina. Buñol is the place where Tomatina is held every year.
La Tomatina
On the last Wednesday of August the well known tomato festival, Tomatina, takes place in Spain, in the village of Buñol. In the year 1945 (on the last Wednesday of the month august) it all started with some adolescents in costumes who were throwing things at people. The year after, these adolescents started throwing with tomatoes and that is how the annual Tomatina festival started.
The climax of Tomatina is the tomato fight. During one hour, people can throw tomatoes at each other on the streets. Every year ten thousands of people come to Tomatina. To make it all safer and more enjoyable they decided to let only 20.000 people join the festival. You will need to buy a ticket for €10,00 to enter Tomatina.
If you would like to get an impression of this spectacular festival in Buñol, take a look at this video.
Rules
Buñol made some rules for during the Tomatina festival in Buñol:
- You cannot bring any bottles or other objects which can cause accidents
- You are not allowed to destroy t-shirts or to throw with t-shirts
- Before you want to throw a tomato at someone, you first have to squeeze the tomato. This rule exists in order to prevents anyone from getting hurt or injured
- If a truck with tomatoes wants to pass, you have to watch out
- When you hear the second bang, everybody needs to stop with throwing tomatoes
Recommendations of the municipality
- The municipality gives as well some recommendations for if you want to join the Tomatina festival
- Don’t wear flip flops or high heels, it is better to wear for example sport shoes
- Don’t wear clothes you would like to wear after the Tomatina festival;
- Goggles wouldn’t be a bad idea, given the fact that tomatoes can quite irritate when they are thrown into your eyes
- You might want to bring some dry and clean clothes with you for when you return to your home/holiday destination
- In case you don’t live in Buñol, the best option to find accommodation is in Valencia. There is a good connection between Valencia and Buñol. Accommodation can be quite hard to find in Buñol
- If you would like to make some pictures, make sure you bring a water resistant fotocamera with you;
- Never climb onto a pole, a window or whatever to have a better overview, then you are becoming the target for more than 40.000 people
- Enjoy!
Transport
There are several options to reach Buñol from Valencia city. One possibility could be to rent a car. Another option would be to take the train to Buñol.
You also could take the bus to Buñol from Valencia. More information about this will follow.
Tips
- If you want to go to Tomatina 2019 on Wednesday 28 August it is recommended to book an accommodation in advance. The prices of hotels, apartments and hostels etc. go up really fast and many people book an accommodation in Valencia, because of the good connection between Valencia and Buñol.
- Would you like to learn more about some typical Spanish traditions? You could book our Flamenco dancing class or our Paella cooking class.
