Efemérides: La Batalla del vino de Haro
If you find yourself in Haro (La Rioja, Spain) at the end of June, expect a Wimbledon-like dress code: everyone wears white, but for entirely different reasons.
Spoiler: you will end up purple. On June 29th, the crowd celebrates Saint Peter by hurling 70,000 liters of wine at each other from early in the morning, using whatever they can get their hands on: water guns, buckets, sulfators (a very popular option), jugs, bottles, watering cans... literally anything available.
Just before seven in the morning, people dressed in white and adorned with the red festival pañuelo and equipped with wine for the battle, make their way towards the Bilibio Cliffs, where the holy hermit Felices de Bilibio once lived and died. Initially, locals began visiting the cave at the cliffs where the remains of the saint were buried in the 6th century. This informal pilgrimage became so popular by the 1400s that the Haro Council formally organized an official pilgrimage there, complete with festivities like communal lunches after mass on Saint John’s and Saint Peter’s days. Wine has always been abundant in the region, and the romerías fueled by wine that occurred post-mass at the chapel eventually evolved into what is now known as the ‘Wine Battle’. This way, religious worship and pagan festivity became permanently linked in the celebrations of Haro.
Archivo Batalla del Vino de Haro. Máximo Ugalde
The fiesta goes a long way back. Early as June 29, 1898, the Diario de La Rioja reported:
‘By the time this issue reaches the hands of my dear readers, the typical pilgrimage of Bilibio will already have passed into history; we will have fewer wine jars in our cellars, and more on our bodies and clothes...’
Documental: "Panorama riojano: vendimia tradicional, barrio de las bodegas y batalla del vino."
Here are the official commandments of the festival:
1. Wear white, complete with the traditional red festival scarf.
2. Stain your neighbor with wine as quickly and thoroughly as possible.
3. Use sanctioned ‘weapons’ such as boots, non-glass bottles, sulfators, cauldrons, water guns, or any liquid-holding vessel.
4. Continue to laugh and sing throughout the battle.
5. Anyone still sporting white on their attire becomes a preferred target.
6. Trust no one; your friends are your prime foes.
7. The charanga will keep playing as long as there is any wine remaining.
8. If you see people sitting down to eat snails or sarmiento-grilled chops, the battle is over, and it’s time for lunch.
