Just as in previous editions, it will be held in 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.
Planned activities
Most of the planned activities will be held in the morning of Saturday 3rd March, which will include exhibitions, tastings, sales of tomatoes with supportive purposes, flamenco-fusion concert, activities for children, an award presentation, gastronomy and ten stands which may be visited from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. More than 20,000 people attended this event last year at which Almería claimed itself to be the world’s tomato capital.
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 mascot, and also the mascot of La Voz de Almería, Vocito. 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:
- From 10.30 a.m. to closing time. Drawing competition. The children who want to participate may obtain their sheet of drawing paper on 24th February and 2nd March together with the newspaper La Voz de Almería. There will be prizes for the best drawings which will be also published in the Voz newspaper.
- From 10.30 a.m. to 12.00 p.m. Crafts workshop.
- From 11.30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Sensorial tasting of fruits and vegetables.
- From 10.30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Teddy bears hospital.
- From 10.30 a.m. to closing time. Photo call for children to take photographs with Tomatal during the whole morning.
The earliest risers will get to taste the delicious healthy breakfast made up of sliced bread with olive oil, crushed tomato and coffee for only one Euro. The money collected will go to the Association for Children with Disability in Almería (ANDA).
It will not be the only gastronomic opportunity of the day, because from 2:00 p.m., a Cruzcampo beer tasting with an appetizer will be offered. This meal will also be priced at one Euro for the benefit of Red Cross.
Throughout the whole morning, there will be tomato tastings in the Plaza, organised by the Fundación Tecnova, the reference centre within the ancillary industry for agriculture, post-harvest and food production packaging.
But, in addition to this, 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”. Several bars and restaurants in the centre of Almería will include special “tapas”, whose main ingredient will be the tomato.
Exhibitors and sale of products
Throughout the whole morning, the interesting exhibition “Genetic improvement of tomato” will remain open. All the visitors will be given the magazine “Tomate 3.0” for free, in which recipes made of tomato are shown.
Companies belonging to the agri-food industry sector will show their products on their stands in the Plaza Vieja: Casi, Vegacañada, Agroponiente, Vegano Salud, etc.
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: ANDA and Red Cross. The tomatoes are supplied by big companies within this sector such as: Unica Group, Vicasol, Coprohníjar, Balcón de Níjar, Vegacañada, Hortamar, Agroponiente, La Unión, Casi and Caparrós Nature.
Concert and tributes
Music will have a leading role in this event. From midday, the famous group from Malaga “Cantando bajito’ will offer its celebrated and flamenco tracks, with only a break to pay tribute to the collaborating companies that once again have demonstrated their responsibility and social commitment.
Those people who spend the morning of Saturday 3rd March in the Plaza de la Catedral of Almería may also see an exhibition of the last models of Kia and Toyota cars, attend the live radiocasting of a special programme of Cadena Ser Almería and, even, participate in the raffle of a double room with breakfast included and bath with one-hour massage for two people in Aire de Almería.