The wine battle defies the rain

The Haro Wine Battle has begun under the threat of constant rain. This year the weather has also marked the ‘big’ day of the festivities which, although it has not prevented thousands of people from approaching the fields of Bilibio, it has reduced the number of pilgrims who have entered on foot, which has caused long queues in front of the buses that left the campsite from 7 in the morning.

Once again, the Battle did not wait for the end of the mass at the hermitage, which began at 8.45 and was attended by representatives of various entities of the city, especially the brotherhood of San Felices de Bilibio.

The night of San Pedro was also spent under the threat of rain, but thousands of people from all over the city packed the city centre throughout the night, especially the Plaza de la Paz, which hosted concerts until dawn.

the arrival

There are many ways in which the pilgrims have arrived at San Felices: by car, by bus, in a trailer or even on foot. For this reason, as Borja Merino, Councillor for Celebrations, explained, this year there are new features in the number of buses and there are six vehicles that have access to the second field, property of the San Felices Brotherhood.

The celebration begins after the mass in San Felices with the pilgrims. However, access to the image of the saint is not possible due to a lightning strike that has caused damage to the structure of the saint and the stairs to access it will remain sealed for security reasons.

With this, after the mass and with the firing of the rocket, the Battle of Wine will finally begin, which will continue at 12:00 with the arrival of the pilgrims to the Plaza del Paz in the typical ‘tours’, who will march in a parade to the plaza of bulls, where several brave cattle will run.

In this way, these festivities of San Juan, San Felices and San Pedro will conclude in the place where they began, in the Plaza de la Paz with the ‘Pasarela’ orchestra and the fire bulls at 00.30 hours.

Yesterday’s acts

But the celebrations began yesterday, on Saint Peter’s Eve. And among the events that were held, it is worth highlighting the traditional gathering of clubs in the Plaza de la Paz, in which Ignacio Olarte Gamboa, known as ‘Nacho’ of the Cachondeo club, was honored as the outstanding club member of the year. “Everything that he is great about, he is a good person,” explained yesterday Jesús Luzuriaga, also a member of the Cachondeo group. This is an award in which the winner is not known until the moment of the tribute and Jesús said yesterday that it was somewhat complicated: “We had to try to ensure that he could be there to receive this tribute because he was working and could hardly attend.” But what is clear is that Ignacio has earned the affection of his companions: «From the peña we have thought of him because he has always worried about everything, preparing the lunches, he has always brought us crabs that he caught from his little lake, he brought tomatoes, chillies, peppers, etc. When you ask him for something he is always willing, that’s why we thought about him,” the club member said yesterday.

This event was followed by many others dedicated to music such as the performance of Disco Móvil Krossko, La Regadera or Gato López, the official Ska-p tribute. This is how the most partiers held out until St. Peter’s Day with the climb up the mountain early in the morning.