Batalla del Vino (The Battle of Wine)

Batalla del Vino (The Battle of Wine)
@Asim Deb

In Spain, there is a festival Batalla del Vino, where you have to throw wine and strictly only red wine on the other person. Batalla del Vino, in English it means The Battle of Wine. Though it’s a celebration, the Spanish people say it a “battle”, and the armament used by both the sides are only bucket of wine, nothing else. There are many incidents in history related to alcohol, but playing a “battle” by throwing buckets of red wine on the other person is something unique. To add, the battlefield (playground) is fixed, you can not play anywhere as you wish. The battlefield for Batalla del Vino is about 6 kilometers from the city of Haro, a place known as Riscos de Bilibio, near the foothills of the Obarenes Mountains. And also you have to strictly follow the same dress code, irrespective of age, and be a male or female. The dress code is anything white, and a red scarf around your neck.

There is a picturesque small town Haro in the northern Spain, about 250 kilometers from Madrid.

The population of Haro town is about 10,000 and is traditionally famous for high quality “Tapas” (small Spanish savoury dishes, typically served with drinks), and also well known for Spanish “Rioja” (a wine produced in La Rioja, Spain). Up to 40% of the Rioja vineyards are located there, and being vital for their local economy, the town is totally devoted to the producing of the best Rioja wines. Since the city is within the La Rioja wine region, the local people make their armament (red wine) for the battle of wine at their own home. It is estimated that on an average, every participant would have to bath with 50 litres of red wine, the attraction is pouring bucket of wine on each other’s head or throw bucket of wine on each others body. This is the event, the battle is the festival, and that is what is celebrated.

This annual traditional festival, or battle whatever you say is celebrated (or fought) on 29th June of every year. The day is known as The Day of the Patron Saint San Pedro. Some people call it Saint Peter’s Day, and the event is known as the world’s most famous “drink battle”. The origin of this tradition dates back to the 10th century, with a possible dispute with the nearby town of Miranda de Ebro over the ownership of a rural area in the municipality of Riscos de Bilibio, where the festive battle takes place every year. The start of the Wine Festival finds itself in the 13th century, when the Haro had to officially mark the property lines between them and their neighbours in Miranda de Ebro. A legal ruling in 1237 made mention that Haro’s town officials must mark their borders with purple flags each year on San Pedro’s Day and on the first Sunday of each September; and if they failed to do so then the land would be returned to Miranda del Ebro’s authority. Its thought that while the people of two towns congregating for the flag raising on those dates, celebrations and mass services began to take place which eventually led to the famous tradition that we now know as the La Batalla del Vino – or more simply as the Battle of Wine. It was around the year 1710 that there was an actual historical recording of there being a wine fight in the town’s archives. The festival’s history relates to many theories but whatever its actual origin, the Wine Fight of Haro is definitely an amazing unique festival.

Once everyone has arrived, the city banner is unfurled on the highest rock, which shows the beginning of a religious mass. A little before 7:00 AM, the people, all dressed in white, carry the wine to the Cliffs of Bilibio, either on foot, or in trailers pulled by tractors, or in private vehicles. Around 8:30 or 9:00 AM, the city mayor, who traditionally heads the festivities, leads a procession on horseback to the Chapel of San Felices de Bilibio (about six kilometers north of the city of Haro). It is a procession of people of all ages carrying jugs, bottles, and other types of containers filled with red wine. Upon their arrival to the chapel, the mayor places a banner at the top of the rocks and a mass is celebrated. at the Chapel of San Felices de Bilibio. Saint Felix of Bilibio, master of San Millán in the 6th century, lived and died in what is now known as the Cliffs of Bilibio. According to legend, the dispute between the two towns was resolved when the townspeople of Haro climbed to the top of a nearby mountain and poured wine over the boundary markers to symbolize the town’s claim to the land.

After mass, a rocket is fired, officially announcing the start of wine battle. Around 10:30am, when the wine runs out (it is estimated that 40,000 liters of wine are used every year on this day), people begin to retreat to the city to dry their soaked clothes and have lunch. Around 12 PM, they will enter the city and head towards the bullring where several wild cattle will be released.

At the end, children receive a lunch of chocolate and biscuits. Their festival continues at the Plaza where there are bullfights for youth in the town bullring.

During the wine fight, be known or stranger, everyone is a target, and people throw wine on each other until everyone is completely soaked and turning the white dress to purple / pink. People follow a practice that they don’t wear their best white clothes, because by the end of the fight, your clothes will never be white again despite its best wash. Actually, people don’t wear anything expensive that they would like to wear again (shoes included).

Now-a-days, some people throw wines using bottles, water pistols, or anything that can contain liquid.: buckets, wineskin, sprayers and anything else that can be used to hurl, spray or launch thousands of litres of wine all over the crowd. This soaking was not to everyone’s taste, so for several years the popularity of the pilgrimage decreased, especially for women who did not want their dresses to be stained.

In 1949, the Battle of Wine earned its first mention in Enrique Hermosilla Díez’s article for La Rioja newspaper. Word traveled and the festival regained popularity over the following years. Today, the Haro Wine Festival annually attracts people from all over the world. In 1965 the Spanish Government declared it as a festival of touristic and national interest, as one of the major festivals in Spain. The festivities actually begin a week before the wine fight as the towns 10,000 inhabitants embrace culture, art, live performances, comedy and much much more as part of the Wine Festivals program of events.

In fact, the party starts in the evening of 28th June, down in the town, and the locals advise that you should just let yourself be carried away by the crowd. For outsiders it’s a good idea to make a night of it. While the town is light on accommodation options and full of tourists, the campsite in town is a great, cheap and easy option. If you don’t have any camping gear or want to carry bags of stuff to Haro, don’t worry, tour group possibilities are available.

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