This commercial relevance, together with the proven quality of the tomato from Almería, and its outstanding role in a healthy diet are the unifying threads of this event. Just as in previous editions, it will be held in the city centre, the Plaza Vieja of the city capital, and has been organised by companies operating in the fruit and vegetable sector with local media partners, La Voz de Almería and Cadena Ser, and the institutional support of the City Council of Almería, the Provincial Council and the entity Cajamar. The wider society in Almería shows, with its participation in this event, its pride for the superior quality of tomatoes grown here.
Most of the planned activities will be held in the morning of Saturday 18th, which will include exhibitions, tastings, sales of tomatoes with supportive purposes, a pop-music concert, an award presentation, gastronomy and ten stands which may be visited from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. More than 20,000 people attended this event last year at which Almería claimed itself to be the centre of the tomato world.
Activities for children
The event will start with the arrival at Plaza Vieja of the La Charanga Band of La Voz, accompanied by Tomatal, the event’s mascot, and also the new mascot of La Voz de Almería. As most of the attendees are families with children, the children will have a leading role and many of the activities are planned for them.
Therefore, from 10:30 a.m. there will be activities for the children in the marquee of the Red Cross such as:
- Children’s dance workshop. From 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
- Drawing Competition. From 1:00 to 1:30 p.m. There will be prizes for the best drawings which will be also published in the La Voz newspaper.
- Face painting workshop. From 12:00 to 1:30 p.m.
Tastings and gastronomy
The earliest risers will get to taste the delicious healthy breakfast made up of sliced bread, with olive oil from the Almazara de Canjáyar and crushed tomato, and coffee for only one Euro. The money collected will go to two social organizations, the Red Cross and ANDA, (Association for Children with Disability in Almería).
It will not be the only gastronomic opportunity of the day, because from 1:00 p.m. a beer tasting with an appetizer will be offered: sliced bread, sausage from the meat industry of Campohermoso and gazpacho. This meal will also be priced at one Euro for the benefit of the Red Cross and Anda.
Throughout the whole morning, there will be tomato tastings in the Plaza, organized by the Fundación Tecnova, the reference centre within the ancillary industry for agriculture, post-harvest and food production packaging.
The hotel industry of the capital, through the Provincial Association of Hotel Industry Businessmen (ASHAL), is supporting the event and showcasing the relevance of tomatoes from Almería, in this case, for local gastronomy. It is participating in the promotion of this product through one of the most typical culinary institutions of Almería: “tapas”. Sixteen bars and restaurants in the centre of Almería will include special “tapas”, whose main ingredient will be the tomato in their menu, on Saturday and Sunday: Lamarca San Francisco, Taberna Nuevo Torreluz, 2 Culturas, Habibi, Quinto Toro, Foody Allen, El Chaflán, La encina, Bella Ciao, Bodegas Las Botas, Bodeguilla de la Contraviesa, La Consentida, La Tahona, Cervecería Baviera, Doña Lola y La Maltería.
Exhibitors and sale of products
Throughout the whole morning, the interesting exhibition “10 reasons to fall in love with tomato from Almería” will remain open. Companies belonging to the agri-food industry sector will show their products on their stands in the Plaza Vieja: Agrupalmería, Almazara de Canjáyar, Caparrós Nature, Cervezas Origen, Agroponiente, Vegacañada, Embutidos Alpujarreños de Laujar, Sabor a vida y Café Salvador.
And with the purpose of having nobody leaving the Plaza without tomatoes, tomatoes will be packed into bags and charged a token price of one Euro per bag for the benefit of two collaborating NGOs. The tomatoes are supplied by big companies within this sector such as ÚnicaGroup, La Unión, Vicasol, Hortamar, Coprohnijar, Agroponiente, Vegacañada and Agrupalmería.
Concert and tribute to women in agriculture
Music will have a leading role in this event. From midday, the well-known group Los Vinilos will offer its celebrated versions of Spanish pop of the 80’s in a concert that will last until two in the afternoon, with a break to pay tribute to women from the fields of Almería.
In this third edition, the organisation of the Tomato Day wants to recognise the effort, work and intelligence of thousands of women farmers and workers of the cooperatives and agricultural companies who are also responsible for Almería becoming the World’s Tomato Capital. Some of those female representatives will be awarded with a golden commemorative badge.
Those people who spend the morning in the Plaza Vieja in Almería may also see an exhibition of Seat and Ford cars, attend the live radiocasting of a special programme of Cadena Ser Almería, have pictures taken with the mascot Tomatal and, in short, enjoy a full family day out and claim Almería as the tomato’s capital.