WEBVTT - What's the World's Biggest Food Fight?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here there is a mother of

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<v Speaker 1>all food fights, and it is Lamentina Tomato Fight. This

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<v Speaker 1>is the largest food fight in the world and it

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<v Speaker 1>takes place on the last Wednesday in August each year

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<v Speaker 1>in the small town of Bugno, Spain, near Valencia. The

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<v Speaker 1>fight has gotten so huge that as many as thirty

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<v Speaker 1>thou participants descend upon bun Yol to hurl squished tomatoes

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<v Speaker 1>at each other. An entire week is dedicated to a

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<v Speaker 1>festival with music, food, revelry, and yes, lots of tomatoes.

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<v Speaker 1>On that Wednesday, you'll be hard pressed to get anywhere

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<v Speaker 1>near the town center where truckloads of tomatoes are brought

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<v Speaker 1>in for the big fight. But don't worry. From about

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<v Speaker 1>noon to one pm, chances are you can be just

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<v Speaker 1>about anywhere in town and still get in on the action.

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<v Speaker 1>No one is exactly sure about the origins of Lamentina.

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<v Speaker 1>There are stories of a food fight that broke out

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<v Speaker 1>between friends and escalated to a full town of fly

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<v Speaker 1>ing tomatoes. Other origin stories include anyone from a bad

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<v Speaker 1>musician to city councilman getting pegged with tomatoes. By angry

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<v Speaker 1>towns people. One story was simply that a tomato truck

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<v Speaker 1>turned over in the center of town and people decided

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<v Speaker 1>to have a little fun in the aftermath. The most

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<v Speaker 1>commonly agreed upon origin has to do with a town

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<v Speaker 1>parade full of townsfolk wearing giant headed costumes sometime around

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<v Speaker 1>Legend has it, one of these human bubble heads fell

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<v Speaker 1>over during the parade after some kids tried to join

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<v Speaker 1>in and his costumed head was knocked off. He was

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<v Speaker 1>so angry that he started fight with any and all takers.

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<v Speaker 1>The local kids retaliated by raiding a nearby tomato stand

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<v Speaker 1>and assaulting him with the messy fruits. The following year,

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<v Speaker 1>the same kids re enacted the event, and it followed

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<v Speaker 1>as such year after year until it was a bona

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<v Speaker 1>fide town event. The city council and local police were

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<v Speaker 1>less than excited about it and attempted to stop it

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<v Speaker 1>at various points over the years, but they eventually embraced

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<v Speaker 1>it and the notoriety it brought to the small town

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<v Speaker 1>of just nine thousand people. If you want to take

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<v Speaker 1>part in the world's largest food fight, you better make

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<v Speaker 1>plans ahead of time. The sheer number of people who

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<v Speaker 1>come to Bunyol for lactomatina each year versus the actual

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<v Speaker 1>size of the town means that it's nearly impossible to

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<v Speaker 1>find accommodations there. Your best bet is to reserve a

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<v Speaker 1>room at a hotel or hostel in nearby Valencia. Trains

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<v Speaker 1>leave for bugnon about once an hour. You should also

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<v Speaker 1>heed the following unofficial rules. The start and end is

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<v Speaker 1>marked by firecracker. Respect the starting and ending times. You

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<v Speaker 1>must crush each tomato before you throw it, and avoid

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<v Speaker 1>hitting the tomato trucks. For the first thirty or so

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<v Speaker 1>years of the food fight, it was strictly a b

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<v Speaker 1>y O t affair. Since though, the ammunition has been

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<v Speaker 1>trucked in by Las Colorvarios di San Louis Bertron. Loosely translated,

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<v Speaker 1>this means the cavalry or army of San Louise Bertron,

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<v Speaker 1>the patron of the town of Bunyan. Roughly two hundred

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<v Speaker 1>thousand pounds of tomatoes are brought in for the festival.

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<v Speaker 1>That's about a hundred thousand kilos. The police are pretty

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<v Speaker 1>forgiving during the fight, as long as nothing violent happens

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<v Speaker 1>and the crowd seizes the fight immediately upon hearing that

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<v Speaker 1>second firecracker. After that, the partying continues and the clean

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<v Speaker 1>up begins. The tomatoes are hosed from the streets into

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<v Speaker 1>the sewer system. Locals and shop owners all chip in

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<v Speaker 1>on the hosing duties, but the majority of the washing

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<v Speaker 1>away comes in the form of fire truck hoses. So far,

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<v Speaker 1>the town is reported no nefarious activity or injuries, and

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<v Speaker 1>those traveling to Bunnol have been respectful of the tradition

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<v Speaker 1>and its rules. If you plan on going to Spain

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<v Speaker 1>to take part in lacal Matina, you should heed the

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<v Speaker 1>following tips. Do not wear flip flops or any clothes

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<v Speaker 1>you care about. Don't throw any kind of non tomato

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<v Speaker 1>object in the food fight, including your own shirt. Do

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<v Speaker 1>bring a change of clothing, especially if you're traveling by

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<v Speaker 1>train to and from Bunyan. Also bring along swimming or

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<v Speaker 1>snow skiing goggles to avoid the sting of tomato juice

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<v Speaker 1>in your eyes. Make sure your phone and any other

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<v Speaker 1>devices like cameras are housed in watertight casings. And finally,

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<v Speaker 1>know that there are no spectators at Lacol mcdena. If

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<v Speaker 1>you're there, prepare to leave Red. Today's episode was written

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<v Speaker 1>by Charles W. Bryant and produced by Tyler Clang. If

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<v Speaker 1>you haven't checked out Chuck's new show, Movie Crush, you

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<v Speaker 1>can find it anywhere the podcasts are found. Brain Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>is a production of I Heart Radios How Stuff Works.

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<v Speaker 1>For more in this and lots of other structured, le

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<v Speaker 1>messy topics, visit our home planet, how stuff works dot

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