La Tomatina - anybody been?

Question

also interested in hearing about the running of the bulls if anyone has done that.

Answer 1

No  haven't but I intend to go one year. a massive tomato food fight! who could resist.

Answer 2

Hi, La Tomatina is a tradition that begins the last Wednesday  of August. It was first celebrated in 1945, and after that almost every year except those forbiden when the young people that were seating in town´s plaza where the Tomatina is celebrated and one of the "participants" fell to the ground and, when rising, he begun to through tomatoes to everyone that was there, and started a tomato fight against each other. The celebration was, forbiden several times and permited many other times

There are different events within la tomatina:

-Passage of the authorities

-Gigantes y Cabezudos  parade (giants and bigheads )  dance to the rythm of the local band  

- La tomatina (proper) battle.

Although it was forbiden many times today it is celebrated and awaited. For more info doubleclick link/s below

http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish...

or

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomatina

About the running of the bulls:

Yes, I have run the bulls in Pamplona, Colmenar, San Sebastian de los Reyes, and in Riaza. In Spain the bulls are run in many places and in many different ways. E.G: San Fermin feasts are dedicated to San Fermin,  patron Saint of Pamplona, capital of Navarra, they run the bulls during the fiestas (from the 6th of July until the 14th of July) of  Its the most famous maybe because Hemingway and several other Anglo-saxon writers visited, liked it, and wrote about it. And also because is one of the biggest and richest in ritual and folclore related to the Encierro.

The act of running the bulls is called "ENCIERRO" or the locking of the bulls. El Encierro, or Un Encierro, is the running of the bulls in general.

This tradition originated from an old need, during the old times when they would move the bulls from one place to other like they moved all animals, no trucks,across the country side just shepherds, (usually called Mayorales and they rode on horses and drived the bulls with long flat-pointed sticks) and bulls. The last kilometers before the city or village they where destined to the bullfight, the younger lads and men, who being fiestas were quite drunk, would go out to wait for the bulls arriving as a herd and tease them so they run after them and into the "corral" faster.

Later they enjoyed it so much that when they started moving the herd by truck the encierros stopped and people demanded they become a ritual part of many of their fiestas.

Many places they run everyday the bulls that will be bull-fought in the afternoon, during every day of the feasts, through fields and street to the corral. This are the most tipical as so in this way they do it also during San Fermin fiestas.

Other places just release a bull in the street, some with a cord some without, and they run the bull some hours, there are even 'places where they wall the village with wood fences and released the bulls to the streets for a whole week and there is no other bullfighting event.

There are also Embolados de Fuego which is a bull with flaming balls on the horns that is released also into the ring or streets, etc.

Double clicking below will take you to a site (in spanish)dedicated to many differnt types of encierros:

http://www.losencierros.net/

Double clicking below will take you to a site (in english)were they wilkipedia gives general explanations about encierros:

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/encierro...

Double clicking below the next three links wwill take you to sites (first in spanish next in english) were they will provide infor about SanFernin encierros and tgis years encierrosprograms, activities, videos etc :

http://www.sanferminonline.net/finales/h...

http://www.bullrunning.net

http://www.bullrunning.net/therunningoft...

Buena suerte si vas a correr los toros

S