La Tomatina en España y El 'Holi' en India

La Tomatina en Buñol, España

Cada año, en Buñol (una ciudad que está situada 30 millas al este de Valencia en España), se celebra la fiesta de la Tomatina. Es la mayor batalla de verduras del mundo. Every year, in the week leading up to the Festival, the town of Buñol doubles in size as approximately 20,000 tourists from all around the world come to participate in this monstrous “tomato throwing” battle. Más de 120000 kilos de tomates son utilizados en el transcurso de la fiesta.

Similitudes y Diferencias entre La Tomatina en España y El “Holi” en India

Holi en India

Holi is the festival of colors, new beginnings, and marks the commencement of Spring. It is celebrated by playing with colors, throwing water balloons, and other creative ways of coloring other people during the festivities. Just as the Tomatina Festival involves throwing squashed tomatoes; similarly, Holi is celebrated by water balloon fights and throwing colors at one another. However, there are some differences between the two festivals as well. Primeramente, la Tomatina festival se celebra sólo por diversión y entretenimiento mientras que el “Holi” se celebra para honrar la victoria del bien sobre el mal. Holi has a deep sentimental value to Indians and is celebrated all around the country, whereas the Tomatina Festival is just celebrated in a small town by around 20,000 people every year.

Reflexión

What surprised me most about the Tomatina Festival is the fact that only about 8% of the people who celebrate it are from Spain. The rest of the people are tourists who specially visit Buñol for this grand festival. Another aspect that really intrigued me was the fact that the festival has an extremely low carbon footprint and is extremely eco-friendly. This is because the Tomatoes used in the fight are cleaned up easily by water and leave no residue. Hence, the festival contributes nothing that can pollute the environment in even the slightest way.

La Fiesta de Tomatina en Buñol

Hay muchas razones de la diferencia entre la Tomatina y el Holi. Firstly, Holi is a festival that has been a part of Indian Tradition since centuries and is imbibed in our culture as one of the most important festivals. This is not the case for the Tomatina which first started in 1945 which is quite recent compared to the time when Holi was first celebrated. Además, otra razón de esta diferencia es la significación del festival. As stated before, Tomatina is celebrated purely for fun, whereas, Holi has a deep significance behind its celebration. This could be a major factor for the differences between the two festivals.

If a person from Spain learnt about the festival of Holi, he or she would definitely be surprised about how we use colors and water to express our feelings during the festival. This might be a new concept to them just as the concept of throwing tomatoes is new for us. Furthermore, people from Spain would probably find the message behind Holi interesting as well. Lastly, they would unquestionably be shocked when they realize how many people play Holi from all around the country.

A video on the Tomatina Festival from a Famous Indian Film

La Bibliografía

1.     “La Tomatina - Fiesta de la Tomatina | don Quijote.” DonQuijote, www.donquijote.org/cultura/espana/sociedad/fiestas-y-celebraciones/la-tomatina.

2.     Taylor, Alan. “La Tomatina 2017.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 30 Aug. 2017, www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/08/la-tomatina-2017/538467/.

3.     Studio, Socarrat. "Los buñolenses ya pueden pasar por el Ayuntamiento para recoger su preentrada de la Tomatina 2017." La Tomatina – Página oficial. Accessed December 03, 2017. http://latomatina.info/en/la-tomatina/.

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