Almería will be again the world’s tomato capital next Saturday 3rd March. The Plaza Vieja in Almería will be again the scene of this event where tens of thousands people will gather around the leading product within the fruit and vegetable production in this area.

Almería city will be the world’s tomato capital for the fourth consecutive year. This massive event gives value to the leading role of the flagship product in the fruit and vegetable sector in this Spanish province.

One thousand million kilos of tomatoes of different varieties from Almería are exported to national and international markets each year.

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 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.

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 20000 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 even’t 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:

  • 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.
  • 10.30 a.m. to 12.00 p.m. Crafts workshop.
  • 11.30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Sensorial tasting of fruits and vegetables.
  • 10.30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Teddy bears hospital.
  • 10.30 a.m. to closing time. Photocall for children to take photographs with Tomatal during the whole morning.

Tastings and gastronomy. 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, etcétera.

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.

In short, everything is ready to enjoy a full family day out and claim Almería as the world’s tomato capital.

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