Fun Facts About La Tomatina

This post contains some affiliate links, which means that we make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.

If you head back to school in August, one of the best ways to engage students at the start of the year is teaching them about La Tomatina, a giant food fight that takes place in Buñol, Spain, at the end of August. Here are some fun facts about La Tomatina you can share with your students!

Fun Facts About La Tomatina

Here are 10 fun facts about La Tomatina:

It takes place on the last Wednesday in August
It takes place in Buñol, Spain
It’s open to 20,000 people and is a ticketed event
It started in 1945
Roughly 320,000 lbs of tomatoes are thrown
It was briefly cancelled in the 1950s by Franco
It’s been cancelled once since then, for Covid in 2020
Participants squish the tomatoes prior to throwing them
Most visitors stay in the nearby city of Valencia
Firetrucks hose down the streets afterwards

Safety Rules During La Tomatina

There are also several safety rules participants are expected to follow. These include:

only throw tomatoes
don’t tear anyone’s clothes
keep a safe distance away from the trucks supplying the tomatoes
stop when the signal is given
listen to security staff
squish tomatoes before throwing them
only throw at people you can see
do not throw tomatoes at buildings

The image lists safety rules during la tomatina including:
only throw tomatoes

don't tear anyone's clothes

keep a safe distance away from the trucks supplying the tomatoes

stop when the signal is given

listen to security staff

squish tomatoes before throwing them

only throw at people you can see

do not throw tomatoes at buildings

Fun Facts About La Tomatina in Spanish Class

Here are some ideas for how you can use these fun facts about La Tomatina in your lesson plans!

Fun Facts About La Tomatina Reading Activity

This reading activity includes a lot of options for your students so you can mix and match it across levels! Both the infographic and the graphic organizer pages come in Spanish and English so you can combine them however suits your students’ needs.

Fun Facts About La Tomatina Virtual Field Trip

Virtual Field Trips are great to reinforce geography while we explore culture! Students navigate the map, read descriptions, look at pictures, and watch embedded videos. As they do so, they fill out the graphic organizer, or answer comprehension questions! Click here to check it out!

Fun Facts About La Tomatina Boom Cards

Boom Cards are a great option for a digital lesson on La Tomatina!

New to Boom Cards? Check out my post here to learn more about Boom Cards!

This set starts with a reading and listening activity to introduce students to the festival. Then students complete some comprehension questions, order a timeline of events and unscramble sentences in Spanish to reinforce their understanding! Click here to check out the set in a short preview.