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Wine Wars

Some battles use more humane weapons.

Every year, the small town of Haro, one of the biggest wine producers in Spain, hosts the traditional “Batalla del Vino”, the Wine Battle, where participants throw hundreds of gallons of red wine at each other.

The Haro Wine Festival starts on June 29, the day of the patron saint, San Pedro. It is attended by thousand of people from La Rioja region of northern Spain.

It starts with chapel services

The day starts early, at 7 am, with the town mayor leading a procession through the town on horseback. The procession which follow him consists of people old and young, dressed in white clothes, wearing red scarves and carrying all kinds of containers filled with wine.

The procession follows him on foot through the nearby Mountains of Bilibio, all the way to the small chapel of San Felices. It’s a 7 km walk from Haro, but the fun everyone has after the short mass performed after they leave the chapel services.

Getting doused, but not soused

As soon as the mass ends, the wine battle begins. Some people pour buckets of red wine on each other, other sprinkle it from water guns, or throw balloons filled with wine. It’s really up to the participants what kind of “weapons” they choose to bring to the Haro Wine Battle, as long as they don’t cause injuries and only contain wine.

So much wine is sprayed, thrown, and poured that a stream of it flows down the mountainside path the revelers will take to get back to town. A few years ago, one participant hired a fire-fighting helicopter with its tanks filled with wine, and sprayed its cargo over the entire crowd.

And the crowd turns purple!!

After a few hours of bathing in wine, the whole mountain smells like a stale bar, and everyone’s clothes go from white to purple.

Heading back to town

The procession, wet and stained, heads back to the city, where the procession reverses its direction, back to the starting point.

It’s estimated over 50,000 liters (13,206 gallons) of wine are used every year during this unique event.

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To learn more about Haro's Wind Battle, take a look at the following web site:

Lonely Planet
Spanish Food Web Site
Festival Pig
Spain Travel Guide
YouTube video