One story credits it to a tomato fight that broke out among teenagers during a parade in 1945. In 1952, La Tomatina became an official festival. La Tomatina is one of Spain's most popular festivals (Credit: La Tomatina, Spain/ CC-BY-SA-2.0/ Wikimedia.org)Despite the ever-increasing crowds, the food fight remained free and accessible to everyone. While the one-hour tomato fight remains the highlight, La Tomatina now lasts nearly a week. At noon, a signal sounds, indicating the start of the tomato fight.