(27 Aug 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Valencia, Buñol, Spain – 27 August 2025
1. Wide of crowds gathering for La Tomatina festival
2. Mid of festival-goers celebrating
3. Wide of participants throwing tomatoes from truck
4. Mid of participants throwing tomatoes from truck
5. Mid of crowd throwing tomatoes
6. Close of participants covered in tomato pulp
7. Mid of participants in truck preparing for tomato fight
8. Mid of participants in goggles covered in tomato pulp
9. Wide of truck full of tomatoes entering street
10. Various of participants covered in pulp throwing tomatoes
11. Various of participants splashing through tomato-covered streets
12. Wide of participants covered in tomato pulp celebrating
13. Wide of spectators on balconies
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Wright, IT worker:
"Had a fantastic time, yeah, absolutely great. And everyone’s so welcoming, the town’s really beautiful, everyone does such a great job, and such great fun. We came out here for a friend’s birthday, so it’s a great way to celebrate it in the sunshine as well."
15. Mid of Richard Wright walking away
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Ajeet (no surname given), tourist from India:
"It was my first match and it was superb, you know, like it was my first time and it was marvellous. Like I’m from India and we play a similar kind of festival called Holi, and it was, it’s played with colours, but this, it is something different. Like it is, it’s amazing, you know."
17. Mid of participants covered in tomato pulp cheering
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Nissan Crown, engineer from the United States:
"I’m here to celebrate the La Tomatina Festival. It’s always been a dream. It’s been a blast. We all loved it."
19. Wide of participants covered in tomato pulp taking photos
20. Wide of street
STORYLINE:
Thousands of people from around the world seeking a uniquely messy thrill spent one wild hour flinging bushels of overripe tomatoes at each other during Spain’s “Tomatina” celebration Wednesday.
The mother of all food fights painted a packed central street in the eastern town of Buñol deep red as revelers squished, smashed and hurled 120 tons of the overripe fruit.
Tarps covered building fronts as an estimated 20,000 people let loose amid screams and laughter.
Every article of clothing and pretty much every inch of bare skin and hair ended up covered in a pulpy mush, with many wearing white shirts that quickly were stained pink.
Thumping music gave the event the vibe of a rave.
Organizers wearing green shirts slowly opened a path for trucks loaded with the tomatoes to bring in the ammunition.
Buñol, with a population of around 10,000, was one of the towns affected by devastating floods in eastern Spain beginning Oct. 29, 2024.
That is why this year’s slogan is “Tomaterapia,” or “Tomato Therapy” in English.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the tomato tossing that party lore says began in 1945 for local children.
Since then “Tomatina” has grown to an eye-catching event that now draws a significant international crowd and only has been skipped twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Amid the collective abandon, a left-wing political party backed an initiative by local residents to fly Palestinian flags and a banner against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza during this year’s “Tomatina.”
The only guideline during the free-for-all is to squash each tomato before throwing to reduce its impact. Even so, some participants opt to wear protective goggles and earplugs.
They say if they were not used in the “Tomatina” they would be thrown away.
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