La Batalla del Vino (Haro Wine Battle)

Every year on the feast day of San Pedro, the town of Haro in Spain's Rioja wine region hosts one of the most distinctive wine-related traditions anywhere in the world. Rather than drinking it, participants in La Batalla del Vino spray, splash and pour red Rioja wine over one another, using everything from water pistols to buckets, until everyone involved is soaked head to toe in wine.

The tradition traces back to a procession to a nearby hermitage that, over generations, turned into an increasingly enthusiastic wine fight among the pilgrims. Today it draws thousands of participants, most dressed in white specifically so the transformation to deep purple-red is as dramatic as possible.

After the battle, the town's own bullring hosts more traditional festivities, but for most visitors, the wine fight itself — chaotic, joyful, and unlike any other wine festival on earth — is the entire reason to come.