A reveller poses in tomato pulp during the annual "Tomatina" (tomato fight) in the Mediterranean village of Bunol, near Valencia, August 27, 2008. [Agencies] Click for more photos

Tens of thousands of people from around the world hurled tons of ripe tomatoes at each other Wednesday in an annual food fight that leaves the eastern Spanish town of Bunol covered in red juice.

A rocket fired from the town hall was the cue for start of the event for which local authorities provided 120 tonnes of tomatoes.

Many revellers, including many from Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Asia, wore hard hats, goggles or protective plastic sheets.

Shopkeepers put up huge plastic covers on their storefronts to protect their properties from the sea of red mush.

An estimated 40,000 people took part in the event this year, more than four times the population of the town located in a fertile region some 40 kilometres north of the coastal city of Valencia, Spain's third-largest city.

Spain's Olympic men's water polo team, which finished in fifth place at the Games in China, were among the participants, according to the town council.

After a battle lasting about one hour, municipal workers and local residents used giant hoses to clear the streets of tomato pulp.

The participants meanwhile headed to a nearby river where hundreds of temporary showers were set up.

The "Tomatina" is held each year on the last Wednesday in August. The origins of the event are unclear although it is thought to have its roots in a food fight between childhood friends in the mid-1940s in Bunol.

(Agencies)

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