Destination Experiences

🍅 The World's Largest Food Fight: A Journey to La Tomatina

Experience the world's most unique festival! La Tomatina in Spain is a celebration of joy, community & tomatoes. Read our exclusive guide for tips, tricks & unforgettable memories!

Jacqueline Gomez

13 Sep 2025 • 12 min read

Imagine a scene where hundreds of people are throwing tomatoes at each other, laughing and having the time of their lives. This isn't just a movie script (I'm looking at you Head of State); it's a real-life experience that thousands of people around the world cherish every year. Welcome to La Tomatina, the world's largest food fight, held in Buñol, Spain. In this post, we'll take you on a journey through our spontaneous adventure in Spain and provide valuable tips to help you make the most out of your experience.

Picture this: Jorge and I were home, sipping on a glass of velvety red wine, lost in a movie night, when suddenly the screen filled with scenes of pure chaos, hundreds of people hurling tomatoes at each other. My first thought was, Is that real? A quick Google search later, I had my answer. Not only was it real, but it was happening in just a few weeks. Naturally, a few clicks and a couple upgrade certificates later, we had business class tickets to Spain for under $400 round trip (Read more HERE on that). Movie night turned into vacay planning as we started our adventure that went like this: Miami ✈️ Madrid 🚂 Barcelona 🚂 Valencia 🚍 Buñol 🚍 Valencia 🚂 Madrid ✈️ Miami 🥱

Fast forward: We just returned from La Tomatina and I have all the juicy details.

🍅 La Tomatina: A Brief History
La Tomatina has been a tradition since 1945, when a group of local residents accidentally started a food fight with tomatoes during a parade. The event quickly gained popularity, and today it's considered one of the world's most unique festivals. La Tomatina was actually banned in the 1950s under Franco's dictatorship, but locals fought to bring it back, and it returned in 1957. Today, the festival uses tomatoes that aren’t suitable for consumption, preventing waste while fueling the mayhem. But what makes La Tomatina so special? It's a celebration of joy, laughter, and community.

🚌 La Tomatina Tours
We signed up with La Tomatina Tours right on their website. They took us from Valencia to Buñol, a short 45 minute drive. Our group was transported in large comfortable buses, where we met our guide, Bomber, who shared the history of Buñol and tips on how to survive the food fight. We were prepared for the "beauty", or lack there of, that is Buñol, but let's just say it's not exactly a tourist paradise. The real attraction is, of course, the tomato fight!

We purchased the Day Trip - 2025 option for £149 per person which includes:

To and from coach transport between Valencia and Buñol for La Tomatina
La Tomatina Entry Ticket
Free souvenir T-shirt (actually good quality material and not too thick)
Exclusive PP Travel welcome party in Valencia the night before the fight.
Special party zone in Buñol, metres from the tomato fight for their pre and post event.
Free entry to the official La Tomatina after Party held in Valencia (Meet back at the bus at 9pm for free entry, if you go on your own later, there is a cover charge)
An experienced PP Travel Tour Guide

Bomber was friendly and amusing during our short ride. He shared the story about how La Tomatina came about, what to expect from Buñol, things you should and shouldn't do during the fight, etc.

They warned about the hike from the bus lot to the actual event area. I have bad ankles and actually sprained one the night before due to too much Agua de Valencia 🥂, but the walk really was just fine in my opinion.

The Fun Zone
We were told that our passes would include access to the "Fun Zone (Stage, bands, DJ, bar, food, toilets, and showers)," but unfortunately, we couldn't find it. It seemed like we weren't alone in this confusion, as others in our group were also searching for this elusive area to no avail.

Note: If you don't want to pay for the tour guide experience, you can also take a train from Valencia to Buñol for as little as $5.00 each way per Trainline.com. Just check the train schedule as there are not many trains leaving Buñol a day.

As we arrived, close to 9am, the energy was infectious. Thousands of people from all over the world had gathered to participate in this epic food fight. Our guide reminded us to crush the tomatoes before throwing them, as they can be quite painful otherwise. Well, let's just say some of our fellow attendees didn't get that memo... At this point we were given our souvenir La Tomatina t-shirts, we both put them on and they were surprisingly comfortable for the whole day. We were aloud to store our belongings under the bus that was then locked (thankfully, more on this later).

1. Bomber, our "tour" guide 2. Jorge and I on the bug before the fight. 3. Jorge and I in the bus lot with our souvenir tees

La Tomatina isn’t just the fight, it’s the whole day. Locals open their doors selling cold beer, pizza, and sandwiches. Music spills into the streets, spontaneous dance circles break out, and strangers from all over the world bond over their desire for eau de tomato perfume. We sampled pizza sold right from someone’s front door and washed it down with a cold beer while chatting with travelers from as far as Australia.

Let's not forget about the Palo jamón 🐷. A greased pole with a Spanish ham tied to the top. Whoever can climb the pole and get the ham can keep it! We watched as many tried but sadly, failed. Strangers coming together, climbing on each other to make a human cone as hands slowly slipped from the pole and the closer you get to the top, the more buckets of water are thrown at you. Make it through all of that and you're eating good tonight! It was quite fun to watch but I wasn't about to get in on that greasy action 😂.

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Palo jamón, can she make it?!

As we immersed ourselves in the chaotic atmosphere, we stumbled upon an unexpected sight - adults and children alike taking turns dropping buckets of water from rooftops onto unsuspecting passersby. Even young ones on the street got in on the action, eagerly collecting small paper cups and filling them with dirty ground water to launch surprise attacks on anyone walking by ( I kept an eye on them for the tomato fight 😜). The infectious laughter and playful energy was palpable as we watched, feeling like kids again ourselves!

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Sneaky water traps? Not today!

Strangely, there wasn’t much in the way of La Tomatina souvenirs. I expected stands full of quirky hats, postcards, or tomato-themed trinkets, but only found a couple of t-shirt tables (I was surprised how disappointed I was by that 😞). Pro tip: if you want something fun, bring it with you. Our new Aussie friends dressed as literal tomatoes, 10/10 costume commitment (and the ice breaker I needed to talk to strangers).

Note: All local shops and restaurants as far as the eye can see are closed the day of the event. So, the few restaurants that are open, have outdoor seating only and only sell sandwiches (not the usual menu items). You are however, allowed to bring your own food so that is highly recommended.

Surviving the Food Fight
On to the main event! The tomato fight itself was an unforgettable experience. We positioned ourselves at the end of the main street, thinking it would be calmer. Wrong. As soon as the first truck rolled through, handfuls of tomatoes rained down like fruity dodgeballs. A perfect shot nailed me in the face, and suddenly it was war. By the end, we were soaked head to toe, unrecognizable, and loving every moment of it. What started as a “bucket list once-in-a-lifetime” thing may have just become an annual tradition. There are many things to prepare for but I noted it all for you down below 😉.

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After the event, we headed to a nearby waterfall with our Aussie friends and a local. Despite it being the COLDEST water I'd ever been in, it was surprisingly refreshing and felt amazing. We headed there 20 minutes before the end of the fight so we were the first ones in, good thing as the crowds heading in that direction as we were leaving, crazy.

The aftermath
After the festival, be prepared for the cleaning process. The town in general seemed more concerned with cleaning the town than cleaning the visitors, so some people find water at the Buñol River to wash themselves like we did, some kind residents will hose passers-by down (even kids joining in again by dumping buckets of water off the balcony 😂). Once the tomato pulp is flushed, the ground is clean due to the acidity of the tomato.

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On the way out of town there were the couple shirt stands still up and a few table of food for purchase. More sandwiches and sever kinds of paella. We grabbed a sandwich and a chicken paella, sadly neither were very good. The sandwich: the bread was dry and hard with not much of anything inside. The Paella: was flavorless, overcooked, and I had to keep taking bones pieces out of my mouth. I expected more from Spanish cooking 😕

Much Needed Advice
To make the most of your La Tomatina experience:

👟 Wear closed shoes that you do not mind throwing away afterwards. If you wear flip-flops, you will most likely get hurt, or you could lose them easily during the battle. Don't do it. I normally recommend comfortable shoes for all of the walking but in this case I didn't look in my closet for comfort, I looked for "I don't mind tossing these". I ended up taking a pair of canvas converse, thinking they would be easy to clean and keep but quickly into the day I had blisters on the back of my ankle and remembered they always so that to me, so I left them behind. In the end I didn't feel bad about it because I saw people looking through the piles of clothes left behind and figured they would end up in a good home.
👚 Wear old clothes, or clothes that you are not planning to wear again. They will most likely end up ripped or incredibly dirty/stained. I wore some old workout clothes that I willingly tossed out later that night. Granted, none of it was torn so I could have brought it home but I didn't want all of my clothes to smell like wet tomato for the rest of the trip, so again it was left behind. Many wore swimsuits or swim shorts which is also a good idea, maybe next year.
🥽 You may find goggles useful. However, it is safer if you just ensure that you always have something clean to wipe your eyes with, maybe a small wash cloth that you keep in your pocket or tucked into your pant waist. I actually wore my Ray-Ban Meta glasses to catch all the fun in action. To be safe I also wore an adjustable eye wear strap to make sure they didn't get knocked off. They survived the chaos 🙌🏻
📸 If you're planning to take pictures, bring a waterproof camera or a waterproof pouch for your phone. We purchased these on Amazon before the trip and happy we did! I kept my phone and cash in there and just had it around my neck. Though we were warned that it might get cut off and taken during the chaos, we were fine.
🧢 Some women wore head covers to protect their hair, but Google told me that tomato is good for the hair so I let it fly!
🎒 It's a good idea to take a duffel bag with a change of clothes (and some pain relief medication just in case) for the drive back to the city. We brought clothes but were able to rinse off thoroughly and were dry by the time we made it back to the bus, so we were good to go. I can't say that about all of our bus mates though, many were required to change into clean clothes before they could board the bus (including a fool that decided to roll around in the dirt right in front of the bus driver 🙄)
🗝️ If you're not with a tour group that has a place to leave your things, they do rent out spaces BUT it is completely open. Think lockers without a door or back. Though controlled by the Tomatina staff, I still would not recommend taking anything important like your passport, IDs, or credit cards if you plan to use these storage cubes. Though, I wouldn't recommend taking these items at all as you won't need them.
🍻 Most food and drink stops will take credit cards but a little cash in your shoe or phone holder isn't a terrible idea. We didn't take any physical cards, just our phones for Apple Pay.
🏩 If you are not from Buñol, and you want to stay overnight in town, then I recommend you secure accommodation well in advance as they have limited options that will likely go fast. Valencia is only 45 minutes from Buñol and has many beautiful options for late bookers like us.

Conclusion
La Tomatina is an experience like no other. It was a celebration of joy, community, and, of course, tomatoes! If you're considering attending this unique event, make sure to book your flights and accommodations well in advance. We made this trip very spontaneously but I think we also got lucky. It often sells out months in advance so just keep that in mind.

Stay tuned for more details about our Spain adventure. Subscribe now to catch the next installment!

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