Tomatina festival - Spanish Tomato Festival

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This annual festival is held in the town of Bunol, in eastern Spain, just outside Valencia. Over 40,000 people, including many tourists, gather to pelt each other with 100,000 kilograms of tomatoes.

The festival is believed to have begun life as an argument between two carnival participants in 1945. In keeping with local tradition, the tomato throwing begins on the stroke of midday, when five lorries piled high with the fruit move into the central plaza of the town. The tomatoes - which have been squashed up a little in advance - are then hurled into the crowd for an hour.

This would have to be one of the world's messiest festivals. There are showers nearby to clean up afterwards, or the people just jump into the nearby river, while the fire brigade moves in to hose down the streets and sweep up the debris.

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