THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2012
lifestyle F e a t u r e s
Revelers take part in the annual ‘tomatina’ tomato fight fiesta in the village of Bunol, near Valencia, yesterday. — AFP photos
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ens of thousands of revelers hurled 120 tons of squashed tomatoes at each other yesterday, drenching the streets in red in a gigantic Spanish food fight known as the Tomatina. A sea of more than 40,000 alcohol-soaked men and women packed into the Plaza Mayor square of Bunol, eastern Spain, many with their shirts off and wearing swimming goggles to keep out the stinging juice. Spectators peered over the balconies of surrounding buildings, some also chucking tomatoes on chanting, and dancing food-fighters below, who covered the square like a carpet. Five trucks loaded with the tomatoes struggled to find space in the human tomato soup to enter the square. But as they unloaded the edible ammunition, the square and surrounding streets were suddenly awash in a sea of tomato sauce, covering the crowds of festival goers. “I can’t throw fast enough. This is crazy. It’s my third year,” said one battler, Angel, as he pelted others with tomatoes, which must be
squashed before being chucked so as to minimize the pain. “It is a battle of crazy people, who get on together, and no injuries,” said another, Nestor, who after being slathered in tomato in previous years chose to watch from balcony, spraying others with a water hose. Many wore yellow T-shirts enscribed “Fanatic of the Tomatina”. “Long live the Tomatina! cried one Japanese tourist wrapped in a scarf decorated with a huge tomato picture, alongside a friend who protected himself with a tomato-shaped helmet. The Tomatina is held each year in Bunol, in the heart of a fertile region some 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the coastal city of Valencia, Spain’s thirdlargest city, on the last yesterday in August. The town says it expects the fight to bring in 300,000 euros ($380,000) to the local economy, a welcome financial boost as the country suffers from a recession and a jobless rate of nearly 25 percent. “We don’t have much space but there is no other way,” said Rafael
Perez, spokesman for the town of 10,000 inhabitants. “It’s been here since 1945.” Though the origins of the event are unclear, it is thought to have its roots in a food fight between childhood friends in the mid1940s in the city. It has grown in size as international press coverage brought more and more people to the festival, with tourists flocking in this year from Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India. After the fight, many of the revelers head to the local river to wash off the pulp. This year, six special trains offering 29,000 seats were laid on for the Tomatina, along with camping grounds for the tourist influx. — AFP
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t first, Ann Romney didn’t want anyone - her husband included - to know what color she would wear onstage for her Tuesday speech, the national debut for a potential new first lady. “It was going to be like my wedding night,” she told reporters Tuesday morning as she and her husband flew from their home in Massachusetts to Tampa for the big night. The secrecy didn’t last. There was too much debate about her look for such a big moment, with even her husband’s top strategist - a notoriously casual dresser weighing in on what she should do. “Stuart Stevens, who wears his shirts inside out, is advising me on what dress I should wear tonight,” she joked on the plane ride. In the end, she went with a knee-length bright red belted dress designed by Oscar de laRenta, a favorite of former first ladies. What helped her decide? “Mitt voted for it,” her spokeswoman said. — AP
Argentine couple Cristian Sosa and Mar’a Noel Sciutois celebrates after being chosen as the new champions of Stage Tango yesterday at the World Championship of Tango in Buenos Aires. — AFP photos
Argentines sweep world tango competition A rgentine couples recovered their dominance of the world’s top tango dancing competition, sweeping both the Salon Tango and Stage Tango categories as the annual festival drew to a close. Cristian Sosa and Maria Sciuto won Tuesday night’s stage final with a score of 8.42, followed by four other Argentine couples at the top of an international field. Five Argentine couples also came out on top in the Salon competition the night before, besting a total of 487 couples from 32 countries. Couples from Japan and Russia, Colombia and the United States have frequently wowed the judges in previous finals, but this year
none managed to impress the panel as much as the hometown couples who danced before thousands of fans in the Luna Park stadium in the Argentine capital. To the rhythm of “El Gordo Triste” (The Sad Fat Man), the champions swirled across the floor, smoothly nailing the genre’s classic forms - untranslatable moves such as the “boleos,” “ganchos” and the passionate embrace known as the “abrazo milonguero.” As with the winners of Monday night’s Salon Tango final, Sosa and Sciuta left the stage with $8,600 dollars and two tickets to Paris to perform there. The much anticipated final was dedicated to two of the best-known
Argentina’s Cristian Sosa, top, and Maria Noel Sciuto compete during the 2012 Tango Dance World Cup stage finals.
ambassadors of the genre: bandoneonista and composor Astor Piazzolla, who died 20 years earlier, and dancer Maria Nieves. Drummer Daniel “Pipi” Piazzolla, Astor’s grandson, interpreted along with several other young musicians two songs first performed by the Electronic Octet, a fusion of tango and rock led by the elder Piazzolla in the 1970s, and Nieves shared a dance with the champions of nine previous world tango competitions. — AP photos
Japan’s couple Genta Nakazawa and Manabu Kato perform.