05/08/2009 Tomatoes arrives to Bunyol with Lots of Fun and Music
The Tomatina, the most exciting and representatieve party in Bunyol will be celebrated on August the 26th. But the celebration will start the previous weekend filling Bunyol's air with with music, party spirit and enjoyable times.
On Tuesday 25th August will be hosting the final of the Buzz! World Championships of PlayStation. After that, a Non Stop musical festival will start featuring the most important DJ's of the moment. The Las Ánimas group, with the sponsorship of Los 40 principales and La Maxima F.M., organizes this event.
At 6 p.m on Tuesday the DJ's will start playing to lift up the Tomatina spirit and start the festivities. At 8:30 p.m the anticipated Buzz! World Championship Final will commence. Juan María Hernández will be representing Spain. He will compete against 13 other finalists from other parts of Europe for grand prize: a MINI Clubman and to begin the Tomatina event with Buzz! on Wednesday 26th August.
To get the attendees up and in the mood for the Tomatina. The Djs' will restart the music at 11 pm and also Buñol's town hall will provide some traditional wine, pastries and little bites to bust the energy of the brave participants the next day.
This year the attendees will enjoy, The Tomatina Village, a designated camping zone provided by the City Hall. All the activities will take place around this area. It is located close to the Buñol's train station making it, an easier access to all the people that wants to join this international known event.
The city will distribute among the participants more than 100 tons of tomatoes. They will be distributed from six trucks. They will follow a route from La Plaza de San Luis to the city square. Where all the “tomatinos” will be concentrated and ready to start the tomato battle, dance, play until they end up with their entire body cover of tometo. At 11 am a fire-craker and the Buzz, the popular PlayStation character, will start the most famous tomato battle in history: La Tomatina. It will be an unforgettable hour where the participants will have the opportunity to take, smash, smush tomatoes and throw tomatoes to their nearest adversary until a read stain covers the whole battle ground.
At noon the second firecracker will announce the end of the batle. With this the town starts its cleanning porcess, all the fun moves to The Tomatina Village where there is goiung to be music until 6 o'clock.
Buñol's Major, Fernando Giraldós, said : “ this year the town hall decided to improve the logistics and the promotion of the city. Be have aimed to a more aggresive campaing to stimulate the touristic and local economy. We have increase the tomatinas length”
This peculiar tradition has not only captivated people from around the world but local Spaniards that come every year to this famous celebration. In The Tomatina you can find reporters and tourist from Japon, The U.S.A, Russia, Australia, Italy, France, Germany and more. There are more than 50 international groups in Facebook, that come to this celebration every year.
This year, at the first time, Tomatine will be broadcasting alive in internet, it could be watched at www.spain-online.info
Fiestas and Local Traditions
The last week of August, Buñol celebrates the traditional party of its patron Saint Luis Beltran and The Virgin of the unprotected people. The local parties are fill with dances, recreative atractions for all ages and marching bands. All of this is located in the paseo of San Luis. Where there are gastronomical contest, different types of races, parades and other cultural activities. We cannot leave behind the yearly dispute between two of the most distinctive Buñol bands. Where guest bands perform.
The Origins of the Tomatina go back to the last wednesday in 1944, product of a disputed between young people in the town that went to see a local parade. One of the guys involve in the dispute had the brilliant idea of throwing tomatoes from a local vegetable stand to his oponent. The other people present just follow him and then it started a memorable vegtable fight. Since that day people will gather together to do the same thing every year unofficially. After many prohibitions and problems with local authorities the Tomatina was acknoweldge and accepted in 1957. It was only until 1980 that the city hall started organizing the Tomatina.
“The tomamtina evolves but it never looses its essence which is bassicaly to have fun and tomatoes” said Fernando Giraldos.
