Countdown is on for Spain's world-famous La Tomatina festival

Buñol in Spain's Valencia region is getting ready for the annual La Tomatina festival, which will be held on Wednesday, 27 August, dyeing the streets of the municipality red. The 78th edition this year is dedicated to the victims and the resilience of the people who survived the October 'Dana' disaster. Under the slogan 'Tomaterapia', the festival aims to be a therapeutic experience in the collective recovery after the tragedy of 29 October. This huge event, declared a festival of international tourist interest, will feature 120,000 kilos of tomatoes that will be thrown by the 22,000 participants for one hour.

In addition to the participants, thousands of locals will be able to witness the unique festival - one of the most popular in the world. The organisers of the event expect around 45,000 people to travel to Buñol.

The impact of La Tomatina, however, is even larger than this number, as journalists from Japan, China, the US, the UK, Australia, Brazil, India, Germany, France and the Netherlands will travel to cover it. Influencers such as Helena Wranny from Brazil or Spaniards Diego Nister, Cocina con Claudio and Zampi News, among others, will also be present.

Councillor for Tomatina Sergio Galarza describes the festival as "a source of pride" for the people of Buñol, which is why the town puts a lot of work into the preparation for the day. As he explained, "it is an hour of 'Tomaterapia' but it takes a lot of work from volunteers, field professionals, state security forces and also an enormous effort on the part of the inhabitants of Buñol". According to him, "La Tomatina is a kind of therapy: to laugh, to release tension with a good vibe".

The organisers have set up a large number of purple points along the route to guarantee the safety of those attending and to ensure that everything goes without incidents.

This year's La Tomatina actually started last Saturday, when the Plaza del Pueblo turned into a smaller edition of the festival for children up to 12 years of age. The little ones were given 3,000 kilos of tomatoes to create the most enjoyable mess.

On the eve of the big day, Tuesday, six lorries will be loaded in the Buñol warehouse, with the 120 tonnes of tomatoes that will be used as ammunition in the battle. These vehicles will be responsible for distributing them along the route.

At 11am on Wednesday, the traditional Palo Jabón ceremony will take place. An hour later, a rocket will be fired to mark the start of La Tomatina. For an hour, the route will turn into a red river in which nobody will escape without ending up covered in this colourful fruit. Another rocket will announce the end at 1pm. Then, the cleaning tasks will start and the RedBull Tomatina afterparty will take place in the El Planel sports centre.