La Tomatina Speech (Tomato Throwing Festival)

Our group researched about “La Tomatina”. It is a tomato throwing festival and I am going to tell you about the place.

La Tomatina is held in Buñol in the province (=state) of Valencia, Spain. Valencia Committee is composed of 3 provinces; Castellón, Valencia and Alicante. The provincial capital, Valencia is a sunny city and famous for oranges and paella. If you are a soccer fan, you know it because of Valencia CF. Buñol is 40 kilometers away from Valencia and lies in 30 kilometers from the Mediterranean Sea (in Japanese 地中海). It also has a good network of roads such as motorways and rail to Madrid. The nearest airport is in Valencia and then you have to take a bus or hire a car to go to Buñol. Also, you can go there by train from Valencia or Madrid.

Buñol has a population of about 9,000. However, more than 30,000 tourists come to this festival, so Buñol fills with many people and tomatoes on the day of the festival.

Autumn Festival

In autumn, there are a lot of festivals around the world. My group decided to research Tomato Festival (LA TOMATINA). I am personally interested in two festivals; Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri and Diwali. I would like to tell you about them.

“Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri” holds in Kishiwada, Osaka in every autumn (on the Saturday and Sunday before Respect for the Aged Day). Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri is also the most famous Danjiri festival in Japan. However, what is Danjiri? Danjiri is one of the floats (dashi 山車). The Kyoto-Osaka dialect for “dashi” is “danjiri”. On this festival’s day, many tourists come to watch it. The highlight is “Yarimawasi (やりまわし)” that people make float pick up speed and turn it around all of a sudden in the town, and moreover, it turns right-angle even it is very fast. There are some rules for sightseers to watch it. First, to obey police and the person’s concerned this festival. Second, don’t watch it with climbing up on a stool and a stepladder. Third, don’t throw out the garbage. Fourth, please use a raincoat instead of an umbrella if it is rain. Fifth, please use the public transportation. And finally, don’t hinder Danjiri from passing. I reckon that this is a very exciting festival in Japan.

Next is about “Diwali”. It is the Indian festival and is very important for Hinduism. During this festival many schools and companies take holiday and the town fills with beautiful ornaments and lively people. It is decided to hold the day by Hinduism calendar, so the day is difference every year. Probably it holds October or November in Western calendar. It is often called “Festival of Light” because people decorate their house with miniature bulbs, candlelight, and so on. Also, they set off firecrackers and fireworks. It cerebrates the New Year(in Hinduism calender), so people say “Happy Diwali” each other like “Happy New Year”. People drink and make merry all night. India is a big country, so the way to cerebrate is difference from region to region.

Do you like festivals? I like festival because I can enjoy it with a lot of people. There are many kinds of festival in Japan. Needless to say, there are many festivals around the world. It will be fun to know them. Why don’t you participate in them?