Focus on the WorldThe TomatinaCan y

Focus on the World
The Tomatina
Can you imagine 40,000 people throwing 130 tons of tomatoes at ones another in the middle 0f the town square? That's exactly what happens on the last Wednesday of August in Bunol, a small town near Valencia, Spain.
It tall started when some dissatisfied citizens threw tomatoes at council members during some local festivities. they got away with it, and the fun caught on. Today it is actually the city council that sponsors this messy battle. People of all ages, and now from different part of the world, take part in the festival.
At midday exactly, at the sound of a cannon shot, trucks filled with ripe tomatoes unload their cargo in the center of town. This the moment people have been waiting for! Excited crowds grab the tomatoes, and the world's biggest tomato fight begins. Neighbors also participate in the battle by throwing buckets of water from their balconies and windows to refresh the warriors in the battle of the tomatoes. Soon all the walls of houses are covered in red, and participants are knee-deep in tomato juice.
The fight lasts for one hour, after which people head for the river or to public showers, to remove the mess for their hair and bodies.

The Onbashira Festival
Why do people risk their lives riding a huge log down a steep hill? "Tradition," say the Japanese. The Onbashira Festival is one of the strangest, and most dangerous, festivals in Japan. It has been held ever six years for 1,200 years.
As part of each fest, four shrine buildings rebuilt at Suwa City, near Nagano.
The "Onbashira" is an enormous fir tree measuring 17 meters or more in length, 1 meter in diameter, and weighing up to 12 or 13 tons.
During the festival, four such tree and cut down in the forest. Men drag the logs up a steep slope while they sing the traditional songs. When they reach the top of the hill, they tie the log with ropes and prepare for the ride down. The ropes are cut, and the log travels down the hill at tremendous speed as the participants try desperately to hang on. This is the most thrilling part of the festival, and sometimes people who try to ride the "Onbashira" are injured by the heavy trees. However, the last man to stay on the tree is a hero.
It takes three days to finally move the trucks the distance of six miles to the site of the four shrines. When the "Obashira" finally reach their destination, they are raised as pillars in the shrines.