There is the festival of San Mateo, the patron saint of Logroño, in the third week of September. But at the same time it is the harvest festival, or the wine festival of the Rioja. Children from all over Rioja bring baskets of grapes to the cathedral which are then carried in procession to a wine barrel elsewhere in the city. Children stamp the wine grapes barefoot. The result is sacrificed for happiness in the next year.

An important tradition at this festival are the chamizo’s; places where the city’s clubs offer snacks and drinks for a small fee.
There is much more this festival week; fireworks, parades and more. But we haven’t seen it all.

A few days before we arrived in Logroño we walked along the Fuente de Vino, of the Rioja Bodega, where you can drink wine. We were already there at nine o’clock in the morning, not really the time to drink wine yet. David and Lisel drank from their Jacobus-shell. We had our coffee-mug. A ritual sip.