30,000 descend on town for annual tomato fight
Wednesday, August 29, 2001
Around 30,000 people have descended on a Spanish town for a massive tomato-throwing fight.

They met in Bunol, eastern Spain for the annual Tomatina Festival.

Over 130 tonnes of ripe tomatoes were dumped in the street for the festival-goers to throw at each other for two hours.

It's thought the tradition began in 1945 when a fight broke out among young members of a carnival crowd.

A vegetable stall was in the town square and people started throwing tomatoes at each other.

The following year on the same Wednesday in August, young people met in the square - this time with their own tomatoes. Another tomato fight started and was stopped by police.

In following years, it was banned by the authorities, but popular demands led to it being given official recognition in 1959.

Officials only allowed it if participants promised to respect its power to announce the start and the end of the tomato-throwing with a banger.

Participants are banned from taking bottles to the town square, they can't tear other people's T-shirts and tomatoes must be crushed before they're thrown so they don't hurt others.

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