1. Some 15,000 people, including many tourists, threw tomatoes at each other on August 30 as Spain’s annual “Tomatina” street fight took place in the eastern town of Buñol.
2. Workers on trucks emptied 120 metric tons of overripe tomatoes into the main street of the town for participants to throw at each other.
3. The street fight leaves both the street, its houses and participants covered in red tomatoes. Tickets for the festival start at 12 euros — around $13. Participants use swimming goggles to protect their eyes and usually dress in T-shirts and shorts.
(1)Have you attended any cultural events in other countries? What were they like?
4. The fight goes on for an hour and then participants shower off the tomatoes while the town hoses down the area using fire engines. Because of the acid in the tomato juice, the washed streets of Buñol are actually very clean!
5. In the days before the tomato fight there are also parades, fireworks and a paella-making contest. The festival, held around noon on the last Wednesday of August, was inspired by a food fight between local children in 1945 in the town, which is in a tomato-growing part of Spain.
6. In the 1950s, local authorities stopped the event. But in 1957, the people of Buñol held a tomato burial as a protest. After that, the authorities let the town have their tomato fight.
(1)What cultural events would you recommend to tourists in your country?
(2)What’s the most unusual festival or tradition you’ve heard of?
8. The party was made an international tourism event by Spain in 2002.
