![\"Crowd](\"https:\/\/media.nomadicmatt.com\/2021\/latomatina1.jpg\")
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Everybody loves a good festival<\/a>. They are a chance to let loose, have fun, and indulge in something crazy. <\/p>\n And the only thing crazier than a giant festival? <\/p>\n A giant food fight.<\/p>\n And there’s nothing better than La Tomatina in Bu\u00f1ol, Spain for that!<\/p>\n What originated as an impromptu local food fight among friends in 1945 grew to become its own cultural event \u2014 and the world’s largest food fight. Since 1945, La Tomatina has become a yearly occurrence in Bu\u00f1ol, Spain (aside from a few years in the 1950s when it was banned under Franco). It takes place every year on the last Wednesday of August, and upwards of 20,000 tourists come to take part in this massive food fight. <\/p>\n Here’s everything you need to know to take part in La Tomatina:<\/p>\n Table of Contents<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Starting early in the morning, people wearing clothes never to be worn again crowd trains heading from Valencia<\/a> to Bu\u00f1ol. They get there and join the masses heading to the city center, stopping on the way for some food and (a lot of) drinks. Eventually, everyone reaches the city center and simply stops. There’s nowhere else to go. The crowd is simply too thick. <\/p>\n During the run-up to the 11am kick-off, many participants compete in a pole climb, where they scramble up a greased pole to win a ham. Once the ham is captured, the party official “starts” (though I didn\u2019t see anyone get the ham so you can be sure that the party is starting at 11am no matter what). <\/p>\n Nothing I write will give justice to this ridiculous festival, which is why I brought my camera along when I attended! While I was fighting away, my friends at Travel Yourself<\/a> took my camera so I could bring you this:<\/p>\n\n\n
What La Tomatina Is Like<\/a><\/h3>\n