Summary

  • Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Buñol, Spain for the annual La Tomatina food fight festival

  • It's the festival's 80th anniversary, with 120 tonnes of tomatoes being thrown by crowds from across the globe

  • The tradition started in 1945 after a fight broke out between two groups of teenage boys during a parade in the town

  • There are a few rules to La Tomatina, including that tomatoes must be squashed and they can't be eaten

  • Another is that the event officially begins after a ham, sitting atop a greased pole, is retrieved by a participant

  • There'll be no live text updates on this page

Live Reporting

  1. Thousands take part in 80th La Tomatina food fight festival - watch live

    Flanked by crowds, a line of people sit in ankle-deep tomato pulp that covers the crowd, some wearing gogglesEPA

    Have you ever seen crowds of people hurl tonnes of tomatoes at each other?

    Whatever your answer is to that question, you can expect to see such scenes today.

    This year marks the 80th anniversary of the La Tomatina festival - in which attendees throw tomatoes at each other in the streets of Buñol, a Spanish town in the province of Valencia.

    Around 120 tonnes of tomatoes, grown especially for the event, have been trucked into the town ahead of today's festival, which last year drew crowds of 22,000 people.

    The event, inspired by a food fight between local teenagers in 1945, is held every year on the last Wednesday of August - and over the next few hours we'll bring you live footage of the food fight.

    There'll be no text updates from us - instead, hit the watch live button at the top of this page.