La Tomatina es una fiesta que se celebra en el municipio valenciano de Buñol (España). La Tomatina Spain´s iconic tomato-throwing festival this year celebrates its 73rd Anniversary of this famous event.

This street event is where thousands of people gather and throw tomatoes at each other in the world's biggest tomato fight ever. Tons and tons of overripe tomatoes are dumped in the town centre where parties from all over the world gather and pick up as many as they can carry and throw them at complete strangers, at their friends and also family members who have joined in with this crazy mayhem.

The event is held purely for entertainment and pleasure to all that attend, all participants will get very dirty and completely covered in tomatoes, from head to toe for sure. La Tomatina fight usually lasts for an hour or so, as you can imagine the whole town and streets in and around the square are literally covered in red from top to bottom with squashed and crushed tomatoes. Local Bomberos (Firemen) are used to clean up the streets of the town, they hose down the streets and anyone that is caught up in the crossfire to help remove any tomato debris from their faces and bodies. Some participants will also jump into the Buñol River to wash off any remaining tomatoes.

The festival first started back in 1945 and it is led to believe that a group of young men knocked a member of the entertainment off from one of the passing floats during a festival. The man fell to the ground and as he took his revenge on the culprits, he picked up the closest thing to hand which happened to be a tomato from a nearby fruit and vegetable stall and then began to throw it at the group of young men, this then sparked the world's largest food fight and so La Tomatina was born.

The event is so popular that only paid ticket holders are allowed to enter the festival, due to overcrowding and in 2015 it was estimated that almost 120 -140 tonnes of ripe tomatoes were thrown. The event has grown massively with the number of participants that it attracts from all over the world year after year due to the excitement that the festival brings with its ever-increasing popularity. In 2002, the Spanish Secretary Department of Tourism officially declared La Tomatina Festivity of International Tourist Interest due to the huge amount of success and revenue it attracts.

The Rules of La Tomatina

• La Tomatina will start at 11am with a starting signal and will end at 12.00 noon.

• Glass bottles or hard objects are forbidden as may cause an accident to participants.

• No tearing of your T-shirt or anyone else's.

• Always keep a safe distance away from the Lorries.

• Make sure you squash the tomatoes before throwing them, to minimise the pain.

• On the sound of the second warning firework, you must stop throwing tomatoes.

• And most important of all, enjoy the party!