Venue
Buñol, Valencia, Spain
{{item.title}}
La Tomatina Festival guide
One hour of tomatoes in Buñol.
In short
La Tomatina suits travellers who want a short, ticketed burst of chaos in a small town inland from Valencia. It is usually the last Wednesday of August, which points to 25 August 2027, but the town council confirms the date and opens sales in the months before. Places are capped, so buy a ticket and sleep in Valencia.
La Tomatina is the tomato fight that turns the centre of Buñol, a small town inland from Valencia, red for one hour each summer. Trucks tip overripe tomatoes into the streets and thousands of people pelt each other with them, in a tradition that grew out of a street scuffle and refused to die.
It is chaos with rules. Numbers are capped, tickets are sold in advance and a signal ends the fight, which is a large part of why a piece of local mischief has lasted long enough to become one of Spain's best-known fiestas.
–/5
No reviews yet
Been to this event? Your review helps other travellers.
Key Facts & Stats:
Where: Buñol, Spain
Venue: Town centre
Held: Every year
Type of event: Food Festivals, Leisure Events, Social Festivals
Currency: Euro (EUR, €)
Time zone: Central European Time, UTC+1 (UTC+2 in summer); Canary Islands UTC+0
Language: Spanish (Castilian); co-official Catalan, Galician, Basque
Map
Getting around
Hotels near the venue fill up around the event dates.
Clothes, goggles and shoes for the tomato fight
Whatever you wear will be ruined, so dress for the bin.
- Old clothes. A white T-shirt is the traditional choice, because it shows the red best.
- Closed shoes with grip. Flip-flops get sucked off in the pulp and lost.
- Swimming goggles, as tomato acid stings the eyes.
- A sports bra under your top; shirts do get pulled at.
- A full change of clothes and a towel in a sealed bag for the trip back.
Leave luggage and valuables in Valencia. If you bring cash, keep it in a money belt, and seal any phone in a waterproof pouch. Check your travel insurance covers medical costs before you go.
The rules for throwing tomatoes
The rules are short and security staff enforce them.
- Throw only tomatoes. Nothing else, and certainly no bottles.
- Squash each tomato in your hand before throwing so it cannot hurt anyone.
- Do not tear anyone's clothes.
- Keep well away from the trucks as they move through the crowd.
- Stop throwing the moment the second shot sounds.
- Do what the security staff tell you.
Drink plenty of water before and after. Late August in inland Valencia is hot, and the crush in the centre leaves little room to move.
What happens on the day
- Early morning
Into Buñol
Trains, coaches and tour transfers arrive from Valencia from first light. Get there well before noon.
- Late morning
The palo jabón
Climbers try to reach a ham tied to the top of a greased pole while the crowd soaks them with water. The trucks of tomatoes inch into the centre.
- 12:00
The starting shot
A shot opens the fight, and the trucks tip overripe tomatoes into the crowd.
- 13:00
The second shot
Throwing has to stop at once.
- Afternoon
The clean-up
Fire trucks hose down the streets while everyone looks for somewhere to rinse off before the long queue for transport back.
Buying a ticket from Buñol council and staying in Valencia
Without a ticket you do not get into the fight. Places have been capped at about 20,000 a year since 2013, and they are sold through the channel Buñol's town council promotes. The basic ticket was €15 in 2026. Buy from that official route, and buy early.
Shape the trip around one very early start. The fight itself takes an hour; with travel, queues and cleaning up it eats most of a day. Plan nothing ambitious for the afternoon after, beyond a shower, a long lunch and perhaps a swim. Valencia rewards a few extra days either side, and our guide to travelling in Spain has ideas for the rest of the country.
The 1945 story behind La Tomatina
Nobody is quite sure how it started, but one story is told more than any other. In August 1945 a group of young people climbed onto a stage during a Buñol festival to dance alongside the musicians. One of the band fell off, a market stall of fruit went over, and the crowd began throwing what had landed at their feet until the authorities calmed things down.
The next year the same crowd came back with their own tomatoes and did it again on purpose. That repeat turned an accident into a habit. The town was not unanimous. Older residents complained, and in the early 50s the throwing was banned from the streets. It came back in 1957 after a protest in which residents carried a coffin full of tomatoes through town with musicians playing behind it, and from then on it was an official event.
The fruit has always been the cheap end of the harvest, overripe and unfit to sell. About 145,000 kg of it flew through the streets in 2015. None of it was ever going to reach a shop. The tomatoes are trucked in for this one hour, and by evening the only trace is a pink tint on the walls.
Getting there
Flying in
Valencia airport is the gateway. Metro lines 3 and 5 reach Xàtiva station, beside Valencia Nord, in around 25 minutes.
Valencia to Buñol
Buñol is about 38 km west of Valencia. In normal times Cercanías line C3 takes roughly an hour from Valencia Nord, with extra trains on fight day.
After the 2024 floods
The October 2024 floods badly damaged the C3 line, and repairs around Buñol were still unfinished into 2026. Check Renfe Cercanías for the current service and any replacement buses a few days before you travel. Coach transfers sold with tour packages avoid the question.
In Buñol
Everything is on foot. Follow the crowd from the station to the centre; with some 20,000 people in a small town, the narrow streets move slowly.
Where to stay during the festival
Buñol has very few beds and they go long before August, so most people sleep in Valencia, which has the rooms, the airport and the trains and coaches that feed the fight.
Pick somewhere near Valencia Nord station or the old centre and you can make an early train without a taxi.
Weather and what to pack
Late August is hot. Valencia averages a daytime high of about 30.6°C and a night-time low of 22.5°C in August, with only around 15 mm of rain over two wet days (1991-2020 normals). Buñol lies inland, where afternoons tend to run hotter than on the coast.
The wait in the sun before noon is often harder than the fight itself.
Worth packing
- Old clothes and closed shoes that grip on a wet street
- Swimming goggles
- A waterproof pouch for phone and cash, or leave them behind
- Sunscreen and water for the wait before noon
- A towel and dry clothes in a sealed bag for the trip back
Car hire in Buñol
Airport transfer to La Tomatina Festival
Met at arrivals and driven door to door to Town centre.
Restaurants and food in Spain
Places to eat in Spain before or after the celebrations.
Ganbara
Calle San Jerónimo 21, 20003 Donostia San Sebastián, Spain
Cuisine:BasquePintxos
- Dine-in
- Bar
- Counter seating
El Rinconcillo
Calle Gerona 40, 41003 Seville, Spain
Cuisine:AndalusianTapas
- Dine-in
- Bar
- Counter seating
El Celler de Can Roca
Carrer de Can Sunyer 48, 17007 Girona, Spain
Cuisine:Contemporary CatalanTasting menu
- Dine-in
Sobrino de Botín
Calle de los Cuchilleros 17, 28005 Madrid, Spain
Cuisine:CastilianTraditional Spanish
- Dine-in
Contribute:
Recently viewed events
Others of this kind you opened on this device, so you can get back to them quickly.
Travelers are asking
No questions yet about La Tomatina Festival. Ask the community or our travel team, and the answer will show here once it is published.
Be the first to ask
Our team answers questions here
Explore Spain
Other festivals around the same time
Festivals held in the same weeks, if you want to plan more than one.
05
Aug, 2027
Aug, 2027
Live Events, Cultural Events, Arts Festivals
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
16 photos
13
Aug, 2027
Aug, 2027
Cultural Events, Religious Festivals
Tinos, Greece
28
Aug, 2027
Aug, 2027
Musical Events, Carnivals, Parade
London, United Kingdom
6 photos
04
Sep, 2027
Sep, 2027
Sporting Events, Cultural Events, Parade
Venice, Italy
1 photo
Explore Spain
More events and festivals in Spain
Festivals and events across Spain, with dates, venues and ticket details where available.
27
Dec, 2026
Dec, 2026
Cultural Events, Folk Festival, Social Festivals
Ibi, Spain
16 photos
14
Mar, 2027
Mar, 2027
Cultural Events, Arts Festivals, Folk Festival
Valencia, Spain
28
Jun, 2027
Jun, 2027
Cultural Events, Social Festivals, Wine and Beer Festivals
Haro, Spain
18 photos
11
Oct, 2027
Oct, 2027
National Day, Parade
Madrid, Spain
Save time: create a trip and get offers from locals
Tell us where and when you want to go, and local travel experts send you offers for your trip.
1 Create a trip
2 Get offers from locals
3 Pick the one you like
Create a trip
Need help?
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Getting there
Months before the fight. Sales usually open well ahead of August, and the cheapest tickets are the first to disappear, so keep checking the official channel early in the year.
General
Yes. Tour operators sell the ticket bundled with return transport from Valencia, and often breakfast or an after-party too. It costs more than the basic ticket but removes the worry about trains on the day.
No. Lorries deliver the tomatoes, tipping them straight into the crowd once the fight starts. Bring nothing to throw: anything other than tomatoes is against the rules.
The fight was called off in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID-19. It was also banned for several years in the early 50s, until a protest won it back.
In 2002 it was declared a Fiesta of International Tourist Interest, a national label that puts it among the country's protected popular festivals.
The tomato fight is the climax of a week of summer fiestas that also brings paella cooking contests, parades and fireworks. Staying for a day or two gives you a quieter look at the town.
Not everyone does, but a white T-shirt has become the unofficial uniform because it turns a vivid red within minutes. Anything old enough to throw away afterwards works just as well.
Probably. Some 20,000 people pack into a few narrow streets, and there is little space to step out once the fight begins. Anyone claustrophobic or nervous in a crush should watch from the edge, or skip it.
There have been attempts to copy it in Colombia, Costa Rica and Nevada, among other places. Most drew criticism for wasting food, and none has the history of the original in Buñol.
Haro in La Rioja has its wine battle in June, when people soak each other in red wine. In December, Ibi stages Els Enfarinats, a battle fought largely with flour.