New Delhi: The Google Doodle, created by Nate Swinehart, features an animated depiction of the revelry that about 50,000 people are expected to engage in on Wednesday - including the ham hoisted on top of a pole that must traditionally be untied and brought down before a single tomato can be thrown.
The La Tomatina festival first began in 1945, when a man was pushed off a float during the town’s annual parade. In a fit of rage, he picked up tomatoes from a nearby vegetable stall and began throwing them at everyone in sight.
A group of people repeated the act the following year, and although authorities tried to clamp down on the tomato-throwing initially, it became an official festival in 1957.
La Tomatina is a food fight festival, which takes place on every last Wednesday of August in the town of Bunol near to Valencia in Spain. Thousands of people make their way from all corners of the world to take part in the 'World's Biggest Food Fight' where more than one hundred metric tonnes of over-ripe tomatoes are used for the street fight.
The legend goes back to the last Wednesday of August in 1945 when a group of young people went to the town square to attend the Giants and Big-Heads figures parade. The young boys decided to parade with a musician.
One of the participants of the parade slipped off during the parade thanks to the energetic youths.
The musician flew into a fit of rage and started throwing vegetables from a nearby stall at the crowd. Soon, it was free for all food fight. The scene got out of control and local police had to be called in to pacify the crowd.
Although the police broke up the early tradition in following year, the young boys had made history. The festival was banned in the early 50s. But the ban didn't affected the popularity of the festival and soon it grew as a major attraction with more participants.
When the festival was banned again in 1957, a mock funeral took place as a sign of protest. It was a demonstration in which the residents carried a tomato coffin.
Since then, the La Tomatina Festival was allowed, officially.
From the late 50s, the La Tomatina Festival has become a cult with huge fan following. In 2002, La Tomatina of Bunol was declared Festivity of International Tourist Interest by the Secretary Department of Tourism due to its success.
This year's La Tomatina is very special as it marks the seven decades of the first accidental fight between two young boys in 1945.
Once every year, for about an hour on the last Wednesday of August, thousands of people descend on the town of Buñol in eastern Spain to pelt each other with tomatoes as part of La Tomatina festival.
The small Spanish municipality isn’t the only place being pelted with tomatoes, however — today’s Google Doodle has joined in on the act to celebrate the 70th anniversary of what is widely considered the world’s largest food fight.
