2013-07-23 — /travelprnews.com/ — Agoda.com, Asia’s leading hotel booking site and part of Nasdaq-listed Priceline Group (Nasdaq:PCLN), has prepared some great hotel deals for Spain’s squishiest, goopiest and messiest festival – the raucous free-for-all of La Tomatina, the tomato festival, often called the world’s largest food fight. This year it takes place on August 28.
There are several stories as to the origin of the festival, which takes place in the town of Buñol, about 35km west of Valencia. The most popular one says it began in the mid 1940’s when local youths got into a fight and started hurling the first thing they could get their hands on – tomatoes. For some reason, it caught on as an annual event and the following years saw the celebration grow until it was formalized as an annual festival in 1957.
Pictures of the festival showcase the craziness that goes on – thousands of smiling revelers covered in red paste sloshing around in shin-high piles of squashed tomatoes. But one can’t just show up and start throwing tomatoes willy-nilly – the throwing doesn’t actually begin until a ham is collected from the top of a greased pole. Yes, you read that right. As the crowd sings and dances in a spray of water from huge hoses, one participant squirms his way up the pole to a suspended ham. When the ham is dropped into the crowd, a gunshot rings out and several large dump trucks begin their slow roll through the street, dispensing a combined 40 tons of soft tomatoes. From that point on, it’s madness.
As expected, throwing a tomato into a crowd of people leaves opportunities for injury, so there are some rules that should be observed. First, throw tomatoes – and only tomatoes – as hard as you’d want to be hit – high-speed fruit to the face is never fun; second, wear protective goggles to prevent eye injuries; third, don’t rip off anyone’s clothing, which has been known to happen; and lastly, when the second gunshot rings out, the throwing stops.
It’s likely that the original tomato throwers never imagined that their little brawl would turn into a massive annual food fight. Over the years the festival has grown into a phenomenon that regularly sees about 40,000 people descend on the tiny town of Buñol. The town itself only has about 10,000 inhabitants, so for this event it’s best to stay in Valencia, an easy 30 minute drive away.
Check out the hotel deals below and get ready to party in the messiest way possible. Get the goggles ready!
Hotel Travelodge Valencia Aeropuerto 1*
Stay a minimum of 2 nights and enjoy a 20% discount! Expires December 31, 2013.
Early bird special! Book at least 10 days before check-in and enjoy a 10% discount! Expires December 31, 2013.
Stay a minimum of 2 nights and enjoy a 20% discount! Expires December 31, 2013.
Husa Llar 3*
Stay a minimum of 3 nights and enjoy a 20% discount! Expires December 31, 2013.
Early bird special! Book at least 7 days before check-in and enjoy a 20% discount. Expires December 31, 2013.
Early bird special! Book at least 21 days before check-in and enjoy a 15% discount. Expires December 31, 2013.
Eurostars Gran Valencia Hotel 4*
Early bird special! Book at least 7 days before check-in and enjoy a 15% discount. Expires December 31, 2013.
Enjoy a 20% discount on your stay! Expires December 31, 2013.
To connect with Agoda.com for special deals on hotels worldwide, please visit our website at www.agoda.com. Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/agoda or follow us on Google+ at http://plus.google.com/+agoda
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Asia’s leading hotel booking site Agoda announced hotel deals for Spain’s tomato festival La Tomatina on August 28 2013