La Tomatina

Every last Wednesday of August, the small Valencian town of Buñol turns its central square into a sea of red for La Tomatina, widely regarded as the world's biggest food fight. What began as a spontaneous scuffle during a 1945 town parade — accounts differ on exactly how it started, but a market vegetable stall was involved — became an annual tradition so beloved by locals that it survived a 1950s ban and was officially recognised in 1957 after residents staged a mock 'tomato funeral' in protest.

The modern festival unfolds as a full day of events: the morning begins with the palo jabón, a greased pole with a ham fixed at the top that revellers scramble to reach, accompanied by music and dancing. At precisely 11am, trucks loaded with over 100 tonnes of specially sourced overripe tomatoes roll into the square, and for exactly one hour, roughly 20,000 ticketed participants pelt each other in an entirely good-natured, thoroughly messy battle. The night before, a paella cooking contest honours Valencia's most famous dish, and celebrations continue with parades, fireworks and dancing throughout the surrounding week.

Since 2013, attendance has been capped and ticketed to protect Buñol's roughly 9,000 residents from being overwhelmed, a change from the uncapped decades when crowds reached 50,000. Even scaled back, La Tomatina remains exactly what its reputation promises: one of the strangest, messiest, and most joyfully chaotic festivals anywhere in the world.