La Tomatina 2014

Take a sleepy Spanish pueblo…

White washed walls, the occasional donkey and not much going on for the 9000 or so residents. Bunol, an hour from Valencia was not the most exciting of places. Then one day, in 1945, someone had an epiphany. Lets go nuts abd have a massive food fight. The Tomatina was born.

So what happens? It is a 3 day party, the likes of no other. Of course everyone goes there for the pure ridiculousness of the Tomatina, but that is just the main attraction, in reality it is a massive 3 day bender with happy up for it revelers from all over the world.  Staying in Valencia there is plenty going on. The awesome after party with 3500 attendees getting down to top DJs, bar crawls in Valencias historic centre and the legendary sangria party the ultimate morning drinking session pre Tomatina.

This is the perfect precursour to the Tomatina itself, which kicks off with a massive greased up pole, a prized jamon and a lot of soap. Now introduce up to 5000  lunatics into the centre of town and challenge the best of them to scale the uber slipery pole  to reach the jamon. Why? Because it is funny, and because this is totaly against the spirit of health and safety.

Once the prized jamon is reached, then all hell breaks loose. This is the signal for 1 hour of pure anarchy. La Tomatina has started!!!!

Welcome to the worlds biggest food fight, about 40 tonnes of tomatoes will be squished and hurled in every direction. There will be no escape.

Photos

Xtreme Tomatina or How I learned To Love The Tomato

When I grew up, every weekend and school break I would head to my grandparent’s house in Italy while my mother and father left to Florida. I would stay there for many days, weeks even, sometimes up to 13 days, nearly a half moon! My nonno (grandad), every morning, used to wake me up, slapping me in the face with a cooked breakfast and say to me, “Now we learn to be the man”, before taking me out ‘to the fields’.
Over and over he would force me to eat the ripest strawberries, the longest carrots, the strongest goats. He fed me, and fed me. Until one day I could not eat a single other potato. This day he bent down to my face and he spat at me, with prideful resentment, “Now you can have the real fruit, the tomato.”

We left that day, with 6 pounds of tomatoes, and we made every meal for the next week with tomatoes. I could not eat another tomato. It was not possible. This was the day I swore never to see my family again, and fled to Spain.

I continued to not eat for 4 years.

This year, I will eat.

I discovered a festival where I can shove food into other people’s faces. Say What? Sweet revenge is what. Here, have a tomato.

La Tomatina…. my redemption.

The world convenes on a small town in August, but once a year, and the Santa Claus, the Kringle, the all mighty Krampaus of tomatoes descend on Buñol to make havoc. It is the world’s biggest foodfight, famous for it’s hedonism and Eco-friendly vegetarianism. Where as other Spanish festivals call you to run and kill with bulls, or dance with beers and meet all those near, this one facilitates you smashing fruit (vegetables?) in the faces of your travelling companions, other nationalities, and sometimes bulls. We camp down in Valencia, near to the festival and we go to a water and wine festival the night before, bloody mary’s the next morning, club pool party the next night, just like nonno would have wanted. You too can be the man (or woman) with a mitten-full of tomato pulp.

Prepare for 3 days of glorious messy adventure. La Tomatina is the stuff of legends. Pointless? Perhaps. Fun? You bet. Come get one of your 5 a day in true Xtreme Gap Style.

Tuesday August 26th – Arrival into Valencia

Arrive into Valencia and transfer to your campsite (you can take the metro from Valencia Airport to the city center for 5 euros then jump on a train).

Wednesday 27th August

A reasonably early start at 5.30, you will jump on a private  bus  and be taken to  Buñol, 30 kms from Valencia, and get set up for the carnage. Remember to bring only essential items with you although you can leave items on the bus during the fight (it will be locked).

Order of events

• Depart campsite at 5.30 am (either by private car or train depending on numbers)
• Arrive Buñol 7.00am
• Start drinking as much Sangria as you can. It will get messy. Free sangria party included!
• Grab some breakfast and walk through the town to set up in the Plaza.
• Take some money with you, coins of course, as you will get very wet,  and get something to drink and eat for Plaza del Pueblo, it’s a long time from 8:00 to 11:00. When walking from the bus station to the Plaza, there will be enough opportunities to buy drinks and snacks.
• Around 9.30 the greasy pole will be revealed and those brave enough to attempt to climb it set up in to action.
• At 10am once the jamon prize has been won, the action starts. A huge water cannon signals the beginning.
• One hour of mayhem ensues.
• 11am the fight ends, we hose off and continue the festivities with street parties until 2pm then make our way back to Valencia.

The remainder of the day we will check out Valencia and hit the tapas bars, or most likely sleep as the evening holds our awesome after party which will go on until the very early hours.

Thursday

Check out and explore Valencia at your own leisure, the trip ends. Please note airport drop-off or pick up is not included the airport is a 40 minute metro ride ride away, or you can stay on and check out Valencia.

Accommodation

We stay in a campsite near Valencia. Its beachside and an awesome place to stay, Valencia is only a short distance away on public transport.

Add on Ibiza

You can get a ferry direct from Valencia to Ibiza for around £100, perfect to catch the closing parties in the clubs this summer!

Frequently Asked Questions

Rules of the festival

Where do I need to get to?

We stay in a campsite which is by the beach in a small Mediterranean town called Puzol. This is preferable to staying in Valencia where the price of accommodation skyrockets for the weekend. You buy your ticket to Puzol (Puçol, pronounced ‘Puthol’) from the Main Hall of Estación del Norte. They cost 2 bucks, which is bubblegum money. There are two ticket counters, one air-conditioned glass box that sells long distance trips and one right smack bang in the middle of the main hall that sells short journeys. Puçol is just up the road from Valencia, so make sure you sweat it out in the main hall, ok? The ticket waitress will tell you the platform. 

Once you reach Pucol, give us a call wIse will be doing pickups every our from 9am-5pm on the day before Tomatina. If you arrive on other days or outside these times, you can call us between 9am & 7pm for a pickup. After that, you just jump in a 5 minute cab. Same deal for if you arrive before 9am.

Want More Check Out The Xtreme Passport.

Price

Two nights campsite accommodation £189

Dates

26th to the 28th August 2014