Nadur
to organise its very-own Tomatina
(update) click here for pictures
A
big-scale tomato-fight will be held in Nadur on Sunday, July 25th. The
Gozo-version of Spain’s Tomatina will be held in a field
close to Dahlet Qorrot Bay and is being organised for the first
time by the Nadur Youngsters Football Club and the Nadur Local Council.
Participants will be divided into two groups and each group will have a
huge amount of ripe tomatoes to shoot at the other. For an hour or two,
the people at Nadur will happily pelt each other with ripe, red fruit.
A small-scale
tomato-war was organised in Nadur a few years ago. However, this time,
the organisers are inviting more people to join in. Posters have been
printed and the organisers are promising a "glieda bit-tadam fuq
skala kbira" (a big-scale tomato war).
Speaking to june29th.com, Nadur Mayor Dr Chris Said said the people of Nadur have always enjoyed creating bizarre events. "We are renowned for our unique macabre carnival and people are now very enthusiastic about this tomato-war." Dr Said, who may throw a tomato or two as well, said all arrangements are being made so that the mess gets cleaned up quickly.
Anthropologist
Dr Vicki Ann Cremona is surprised as she had not heard about the event.
"I have problems with people taking up traditions that were never
theirs," she told june29th.com. Dr Cremona said it would have been
much better had the people of Nadur researched into old Gozitan
traditions that could perhaps be revived.
The
world-famous Tomatina is held on the last Wednesday of August, at
the peak of tomato season, in the village of Bunol in Spain. After much
laughter, spirited mischief and camaraderie, friends and neighbors
gather in the town square for the food and wine festivities. It is
definitely the world's largest food fight, and certainly the messiest.
It was established in 1945 at an anti-Franco rally.
Soon
after Nadur’s Tomatina, the participants will be invited for a
beach party at Dahlet Qorrot Bay.
