Haro Wine Battle 2027: Rioja's Red Wine Fight

Once a year, on the feast of Saint Peter, the town of Haro in La Rioja turns a hillside into a battlefield of red wine. Thousands of people, dressed in white with a red scarf knotted at the neck, climb to the Riscos de Bilibio and douse each other with wine from leather bota bags, buckets, sprayers and water pistols. It is one of the most unusual days in Spanish wine culture, and one of the least understood from the outside.

This guide is for the traveller who wants to plan the day properly. It separates what is confirmed from what is not, and that matters this year: the 2027 date is inferred from a fixed rule, because the official 2027 programme has not been published. Where the sources disagree, we say so. The timetable uses the 2026 edition as its reference, and the budget, transport and winery sections only use prices we could attribute to a source.

What the battle is, and what it is not

The Batalla del Vino combines three things in one morning: a pilgrimage, a mass and a battle. Participants walk or take a shuttle up to the hermitage of San Felices de Bilibio, attend the mass, and then, when the rocket that opens the fight goes off, start throwing wine across the meadows around the Riscos. Around midday the crowd comes back down to Haro, where the afternoon brings more street celebrations and the vaquillas in the bullring, which are reserved for people over 18.

The battle is not a wine festival in the usual sense: no wine is poured for visitors to taste. The winery tastings you can book in Haro are a separate activity, covered below. Press figures for the volume of wine vary widely. For the 2026 edition, the reporting we read gives about 6,000 participants and about 30,000 litres of red wine. Older reports cite much larger volumes. Treat the numbers as an order of magnitude, and name the year when you quote them.

The 2027 date: what is confirmed and what is not

The date is solid because the rule is solid: the battle falls on 29 June, and the 2026 programme applies that rule to its year. The 2027 programme is less certain. In 2026 the council published its programme on 29 May, about a month before the battle. Based on that calendar, a 2027 programme would be expected around late spring. Until then, read every hour in this guide as the 2026 reference, not as a promise.

A short history, and the parts that are legend

The pilgrimage is old. Local tradition ties the festival to San Felices de Bilibio, a saint whose legend places his burial in a cave in the Riscos. The first press mention that reference works cite dates from 1949. The wine element is documented later: the first recorded “wine baptisms”, the ritual that marked the shift from pilgrimage to battle, appear at the end of the nineteenth century, according to a local winery’s blog. The national title followed in 2011.

The battle was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID-19.

One story is told more often than it is documented. It is a centuries-old border dispute with Miranda de Ebro over the Riscos de Bilibio, summed up in a local saying: if the jarreros, the men who carried wine jars up the hill, failed to come one year, Haro would lose its claim to the Riscos. We did not find a primary document for this version, so treat it as tradition.

The rules, and the outfit

The rules below come from the council’s programme as the press relays it, and from local guides, who agree on the points that matter.

• Dress all in white, with a T-shirt, trousers and socks, and a red scarf at the neck. Pick clothes you will not need again.
• Wear closed, worn-in shoes. No flip-flops and no sandals.
• Bring no glass. Bottles and any breakable container are banned.
• Do not fire liquid before the official start, which is the rocket after the mass.
• Under 18: no vaquillas, and no alcohol sales to minors.
• The battle ends when the fighters sit down to eat, traditionally snails or chuletillas.

Pack for a messy morning: swimming goggles for the wine in your eyes, a change of clothes for the afternoon, water, food in a waterproof bag and high-factor sun cream. Keep your phone in a waterproof pouch or leave it at the hotel, and carry nothing of value. Plan the way back before you leave, because the last shuttles go down in the late morning.

The sources disagree on one point. One guide says there are no rules and no sides, while another writes that almost anything goes as long as nobody gets hurt. The council’s programme, however, sets a safety plan and restrictions for the days before the start. Read the tradition as lightly formalised, and the restrictions as binding.

The day, hour by hour

The 2026 timetable is the best reference we have. Every time in the table comes from that edition, and the 2027 times will move, especially the mass.

Some older guides give later times, such as a mass at 8:45 or 9:00. Those predate the 2026 change, so use 8:00 as the reference and check the council’s notice.

The battle is a morning event, and most tours are not. Eight of the nine tours we checked start between 8:00 and 9:30 on 29 June, and the ninth publishes no start time. Book the tours for 28 or 30 June, when eight of the nine run, and give 29 June to Haro.

Getting there

Haro is small, so public transport is limited and the car is the simplest option. Train and bus times below come from aggregators, so confirm them before you travel.

Once you are in Haro, the free shuttles take you toward the hermitage. The walk from town is about 6 km. Parking at the Riscos is reserved for the organisers, the peñas and authorised groups, and tractors need a special permit. Access roads were closed on festival days in 2021, so ask the council about 2027.

Where to stay

Book early. Local guidance is to reserve at least six months ahead, and demand peaks in the last week of June. The centre has a few hotels that appear on booking sites, including Hotel Plaza de la Paz, and Eurostars Los Agustinos, about 0.3 km from the centre. We did not check rates, so do not budget from this guide.

Logroño is the most practical alternative, with an airport and a train of about 40 minutes. From there, check whether the first train fits a 6:30 shuttle, or plan to drive. Camping near the shuttle start is another option, but we did not confirm the campsite’s current opening or prices.

Budget: what is free and what costs money

The cheapest full day is the free battle plus one guided winery visit. The children’s battle works differently: tokens are bought the day before at the Centro Municipal de Cultura and exchanged for a full wineskin at El Ferial, and the price of the tokens is not published. Operator packages that include the battle exist, but their prices must be checked before you pay, since the battle itself is free.

Wineries in Haro you can book

Haro is a winery town as well as a battleground. If you would rather spend the day in cellars, the table covers the visits we could confirm in October 2026 on a winery site or a tourism platform.

Muga is the easiest visit to book. Keep winery visits for a day other than the battle.

Two days in Rioja: the battle and the vineyards

Haro sits in Rioja Alta. Laguardia, in Rioja Alavesa, is about 30 minutes away by tour bus, and it hosts the office of the Ruta del Vino de Rioja Alavesa. The free tastings that the route offered for its 20th anniversary ended in January 2026, so budget for paid tastings, from roughly 23 to 40 euros. Elciego, a little further on, is home to the Marqués de Riscal winery, designed by Frank Gehry.

Our suggested order is the battle on 29 June, then a Rioja Alavesa day on 30 June or 1 July, so you are not worn out on the first day. If your trip also crosses the Basque border, our San Sebastian pintxos and Rioja food tour covers the food side of the same region.

The tours we checked: what they are, and what they are not

Nine tours on our shortlist cover La Rioja. Five start in San Sebastian, two in Bilbao, and two are listed under Pamplona with several pick-up points. None of them sells the battle, and two name Haro in their itinerary. We checked availability and prices for 27 June to 1 July 2027 on 26 October 2026, so treat the figures as a snapshot. Prices are totals for two adults, so the per-person figure is half of that. Check again before you book.

Eight of the nine tours are open on all five days of the window. The Bilbao Riscal tour is open only on 29 June and 1 July.

Private days cost more than the Bilbao group day, but they let you choose the stops and the pace.

A three-day plan around the battle

The plan below is a model you can adapt. The battle timings come from 2026, and the tour dates are the ones we checked.

Monday 28 June. Arrive in Haro or Logroño, walk the old town and eat early. Go to bed early, because the shuttle or the walk starts before dawn.

Tuesday 29 June. Take the shuttle at 6:30 or walk up with the romeros. The mass is at 8:00, then the battle. Be back in Haro by midday for the vueltas and lunch. If you are over 18, the vaquillas come in the afternoon. Plan the return by taxi or with a designated driver.

Wednesday 30 June. Visit a winery in the morning, such as Muga at 30 euros, or take a Rioja Alavesa tour. Laguardia is about 30 minutes away by tour bus. This is the day for a private tour from Bilbao or San Sebastian, since eight of the nine tours run on this date.

Safety, controversies and the limits of this guide

The Red Cross recorded 14 interventions in 2018 and 16 in 2019, all of them minor, with no hospital transfers, according to press reports. We found no medical summary for 2025 or 2026. The programme for 2026 announced a safety plan for the days before the start, and you should read it on the council’s website before you travel.

The walk to the hermitage, about 6 km each way from town, is the main physical effort. One local guide advises people prone to vertigo against it. The road is a risk too: in 2016 five people were injured when a car left the LR-306 near the Riscos. Drive carefully, and do not drive after drinking.

The battle also has critics. Eldiario.es, reporting on the 2026 edition, describes a debate about mass tourism and the conservation of the event’s authenticity. It gives no precise figures, so we report the debate without taking a side.

Three things remain unverified: the full text of the 2026 safety plan, the council’s own rules document, and the opening hours of several wineries. Check them with the council at [email protected] or on 941 310 105 before you plan the trip.

Variations by profile

First-time visitors should take the shuttle rather than the car, and keep the afternoon loose. A Rioja Alavesa day on 30 June shows the wine side of the region without the crowd.

Couples have the most freedom: a private tour on 30 June gives the most control over the pace.

Families should know that under-18s cannot join the vaquillas. The 2026 children’s battle at El Ferial, held on 27 June with non-alcoholic wine, suits them better.

Travellers on a tight budget can do the battle for free and book one 14 euro tasting.

Travellers with reduced mobility should contact the council before booking. The hill walk is the main obstacle, and we found no information on accessible shuttles.

If you are weighing this against another food and wine event, our Beaujolais Nouveau guide in Beaujeu covers a different kind of wine season, with its own calendar and its own rules.

Mistakes to avoid

• Do not book a Viator tour as the battle. None of the nine tours sells it.
• Do not treat 2027 timings as official. No 2027 programme has been published, so the 2026 hours are the reference.
• Do not call the festival international. The 2011 title is national.
• Do not plan a winery tour on 29 June. Most tours start between 8:00 and 9:30.
• Do not book López de Heredia as a public visit. It is for trade visitors only.
• Do not drive to the Riscos. The parking there is reserved.

Our advice comes down to three steps: book the bed first, take the free shuttle on 29 June, and keep the wineries for another day.